Richmond M. Pearson and the Richmond Hill Law School, Part 1

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RIQM)ND M. PEARSON
AND THE RICHM:>ND HILL lAW SCHOOL
by
Wilson Angley
PART I .
~H
~N~
c&RfMENT a
OJlJURAL
ffi:()JR<J:S
Raleigh.
North Carolina
27611
DivisiO"l of
Archives ond History
Lony E. Tise. Director
Sora w. Hodgkins.
Secretory
Jcmes B. Hunt. Jr ..
GoJerrcr
February 1, 1978
LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
The attached report on Richmond M. Pearson and the Richmond
Hill Law School was written by Dr. Wilson Angley of Chapel Hill.
Dr. Angley worked in excess of nine hundred hours on this report
in the fall and winter of 1977-1978. This is to certify that he
has complied with the terms of the agreement under which the
report was compiled.
While an attempt has been made to be inclusive, there will
b~no doubt, additions and corrections to this document. Please
send me copies of such observations so that they may be included
in the original copy of the report.
JCC/pc
Jerry C. Cashion, Supervisor
Research Branch
Archaeology and Historic
Preservation Section
•
•
Historical Research Report
Richmond M. Pearson and the Ri chmond HI I I Law School
by
W i I son Ang I ey
January 12 , 1978
Ra l e igh , N.C .
•
•
Table of Contents
I . Richmond M. Pearson and the Richmond HI I I Law School
A. Text.
B. Footnotes .
C. Bibliography.
I I. Exhibits .
I I 1. Appendi xes
A. Known Students of Richmond M. Pearson.
B. Richmond M. Pearson ' s County Tax Informat i on , 18 5 1-1862 .
C. Agricultural Statistics for the Ri chmond Hi I l Plantation.
D. Probable List of Richmond M. Pearson ' s Male Slaves as of Octobe 1863.
E. Se l ected Items from the Wi I I of John Gray Bynum , Jr .
F. Items at Richmond Hi I 1- Ashevi I l e Which Might Formerly Have Been at
Richmond Hi I 1- Yadkin.
G. Information on Miscellaneous Pieces of Furniture .
H. Richmond M. Pearson ' s Account with Lemuel Bingham, merchant , (1,42-1845) .
I. Richmond M. Pearson ' s Account with John Hamlin , merchant , (1852- 1856) .
J . Marr iage Articles between Richmond M. Pearson and Mary L. Bynum (1859).
K. List of Richmond M. Pea r son ' s Law Books at Richmond Hi I I (1868)
L. WI I l of Richmond M. Pearson (1877).
M. Wi I I of Mary L. Pea r son (1881 ) .
N. Inventory of the Richmond M. Pearson Estate (I May 1878) .
0. Blueprints of Richmond Hi I I by Wi I liam Roy Wallace (1941) .
P. Map of Yadkin County by G. P. Stout (1971) .
Q. Inventory of the Sale at RicAmond Hi I 1- Ashevi l le (1973) .
R. Plat of the Richmond Hi I I Property (1975).
S. Deeds
l. Division of the land s of Joseph Wi I Iiams south of the Yadki (1841) .
Surry Co . Dee ds , Book 3, pp . 161 - 170 .
2 . Richmond M. Pearson to Isaac Shugart (1 875) . Yadk i n Co . Dee •s ,
Book D, p. 598.
3 . Richmond M. Pearson to J . M. Jones ( 1875) . Yadkin Co. Deeds
Book D, p. 44 I .
4 . Deed of settlement and release between Richmond Pearson , ex cutor,
and Mary L. Pearson (1879) . Yadkin Co . Deeds , Book E, pp . 226- 31 .
5 . Richmond Pearson, executor, to George Z. Poindexter (1884) . Yadkin
Co . Deeds , Book F, pp . 559 - 560 .
6 . George Z. Poindexter to A. T . Spainhour (1884) . Yadkin Co . Deeds ,
Book G, pp. 279 - 280 .
7 . A. T . Spainhour to H. D. Poindexter (1891) . Yadkin Co . Dee s ,
Book L, pp . 536 - 537 .
8 . L. W. Jones , mortgagee , to H. D. Poindexter (1891). Yadk i n Co .
Deeds , Book M, pp. 240 - 241 .
9 . H. D. Poindexter to J . A. Yokley (1913). Yadkin Co . Deeds ,
Book 4 , pp . 529 - 530 .
10 . J . F. Yokley et al toN . C. Society tor the Preservation of
Antiquities (1940). Yadkin Co. Deeds , Book 47 , p . 431 .
I I. J . F. Yokley et al to Fred Bingham and Ha l J . Bingham (194 ) .
Yadkin Co . Deeds , Book 55 , p . 481.
12. N. C. Society for the Preservation of Antiquities to Yadki
Historical Society (1968) . Yadkin Co . Deeds , Book 103 , pp . 88-
13 . Yadkin Co . Historical Society to Bingham Land Co . (1972).
Yadkin Co . Deeds , Book 108 , pp . 745-746 .
14 . Bingham Land Co. to Yadkin Co . Historical Society (1972) .
Yadkin Co. Deeds , Book 108 , pp . 747 - 748 .
15 . Yadkin Co . Historica l Soc iety to County of Yadkin (1973) .
Yadkin Co . Deeds , Book I 10 , pp . 757- 758.
16 . Bingham Land Co . to Yadkin Co . Historical Society (1976) .
Yadkln Co . Deeds , Book I 18 , p . 548 .
Co .
9 .
Richmond Murnford Pearson, future Ch ief Justice of the North Carol ina J upreme
Co urt, was born on 28 June 1805 at his father's home, "Ri chmond Hi I 1, 11 in .. fat
was then Rowan and is now Davie County. 1 His father, Richmond Pearson , wa~ a
native of Dinwiddie County , Virginia, who had settled in the forks of the Yadkin
following distinguished service as a Patriot officer in the Revolutionary
Thereafter, he had accumulated extensive land holdings in the area , and ha
established him se l f as a successful merchant , mi I I owner, planter, and
navigator of the Yadkin River . 2 The original Richmond Hi I I is thought
stood on the present site of the Cooleemee cotton mi I Is , approximately
miles south of Mocksvi I le.3
p iorer
to rve
sev n
Richmond Pearson was twice married. By his first wife, Sarah Haden ( , r
Hayden) of Albemarle County, Virginia , he had three sons and one daughter :
Jesse A. Pearson, a member of the North Ca rol ina House of Commons from
Rowan , Majo r - General of the s tate mi I itia , and owner of Cooleemee plantati n;
Joseph Pearson, also a member of the No rth Carol ina House of Commons from
Rowan , a lawyer and United States Congressman; Richmond Pearson , Jr . , who I
never entered public I ife, but succeeded in business and , I Ike his father,
attempted to open the Yadkln to navigation; and Elizabeth (Betsy) Pearson ,
who married John Stokes , United States Judge for the Western District of
North Ca ro I ina and eIder brother of Go vernor ~~o ntford Stokes . 4
Richmond Pearson's second marriage was to Elizabeth (EI iza) Mumford,
eighth in descent from the Elder Wi I I iam Brewster of New England and daugh er
of Robinson Mumford , an ex- officer in the British Navy who had resided in amaica
before coming to North Carolina . Seven children ere thought to have issue8
from this union: Sarah A. Pearson , who married Isaac Croom and settled inl
Alabama ; M. Eliza Pearson, who married W. G. Beatty <or Beattie) of Bladen County ;
-2 --
Charles R. Pearson , who died childless and unmarried; Richmond Mumford Pea son ,
the subject of this report; Giles W. Pearson , a lawyer by profession who mb rried
Elizabet h ElI is, sister of Governor John W. Ellis; John Stokes Pearson , whr
married Annabel Ia Beatty (or Beattie) of Bladen County ; and George Pearson ~
about whom nothing can be learned except that he died as a young man leavi rg
an infant chi ld.5
For reasons unexplained , the prosperity of Richmond Pearson was almo
enti rely dispe l led by the War of 181 2. According to Robert Paine Dick, th is
war "wrecked his fortune and left his family in an impoverished condition . r6
In the wi I I which he left at his death In August of 1819 , Pearson bequeathFd
to his wife Elizabeth fuis ml I I on tne Sou7 n Yadkin , five slaves , the Rich ond
Hi I I mansion house and l ands , and a lI household and kitchen furniture .
the death of their mother , it was provided that her inheritance was to
into the hands of Giles W. and John S. Pearson . Other children received I sser
bequests of real and pe r sonal property or were said to have been previous!
provided for. To Charles R. and Richmond Mumford Pearson, their father le~t
the
th ird creek mi I I and alI the land attac hed thereto and lying on
the south side of the Yadk i n river with this reservation, that
unti I they arrive [at] an lawfu l age the timber on the land is
not to be used except for keeping up the fences and repairs to
the mi I lhouse and dam .• . . [and] one fifth part of m~ personal
estate after my debts are paid , not herein devised .
For several years prior to his father ' s death , young Richmond Mumford
Pearson had been prima rily under the care and supervision of his half-brother
Joseph , a United States Congressman who resided near Washington ,
D. C . in his celebrated home , " Brentwood."8 During these formative years
in the nation ' s capitol, the future Chief Justice of North Carol ina is kno~n
to have attended a Roman Catholic school and to have been baptised in that
3
411' faith by Archbishop Carrol 1. 9 It is also reasonable to assume that the
of Washington ' s social and political I ife imbued young Pearson with the
to enter public I lfe .
Returning from Washington to North Carolina In his early
completed his col lege preparation at the Statesvi I le Academy , under the st rn
tutelage of the Reverend John Mushat . 9
The Re v. Mushat was an Associate Presbyter ia n minister who had come t
Statesvi I l e from New Eng land . It is probab le that he or i gina l ly conducted
his academy at the corner of Broad and Tradd streets in a log bui l ding whi l h
had formerly served as a courthouse . 10 His advertised curriculum included
"The Latin , Greek and Hebrew Languages , Eng I ish Grammer , Geography , Euc I i d s
Elements , Natural and moral philosophy , Rhetoric and Logic ." I I Like many ~f
his future law students in Mocksvi I le and at Richmond Hi I I , it is probable
that Pearson boarded in a private home near the school . In an advertiseme t
pr i nted in the Western Carol ina of 24 November 1820 , Mushat informed poten ial
students that "Boarding can be had , as usual , at the houses of Messrs . Wor ,
Hart , and McKn i ght, etc ."12 A subsequent advertisement o f 30 January 182 1
Indicates that Mushat was prepared to tolerate few i rregu lar iti es i n h i s
students ' deportment:
No student shal I be permitted to play at unlawful games ,
nor indulge in the use of ardent spirits; and to prevent these
evl Is their accounts in taverns shal I be examined and a report
obtained from the owners of boarding houses respecting the con­duct
of their boarders , once in every month. " l3
Notwithstanding Mushat ' s firmness , the future Chief Justice of North
Carol ina is thought to have participated in a wei I planned and rather diab I i -
cal raid upon the o r chards of a local tavern- keeper. 14 It is of inter est r o
note that, several years after Pearson ' s graduation, Mushat h i mself established
a l egal practice , forsak i ng both the ministry and teach i ng in the process . 15
4
In 1820 Pearson entered the University of North Carol ina. There he is
said to have "devoted but I ittle time to the beauties of poetry and eleganc ies
of po I i te I iterature . tr16 1 nstead, it is s i g"n if i cant that he studied most
avidly the histories of those nations which had been preeminent in fostering
the long and painfu l evolution of the law in both it ·philosophical and pract i-cal
aspects:
Wh I I e at co II ege he read with much Interest and care the hIstories -
of Greece and Rome . . . . He also studied with enthusiasm and absorb­ing
interest the thri I I ing and instructive history of England and
understood wei I the numerous and complex causes which developed
the progress of the English people .... 17
In 1823 Pearson delivered the Latin salutatory address and shared first
honors in a graduating class of twenty-eight members . 18 Judge Walter Clark
would later cal I attention to the numerous luminaries who had trod the campus
at Chapel Hi I I wh i I e Pearson was enro I I ed:
Among his classmates were Daniel W. Courts, and Judge Robert B.
Gi II iam; and among his college mates, Gov. Wm . A. Graham, Judge
Joh.n Bragg of Alabama , Thomas Dews , Judge Augustus Moore, John
W. Norwood , David Out law, Wm. J. Bingham, Ralph Govel I, Gov . Henry
T. Clark , Dan' I M. Barringer, Abraham Rencher:-, Judge Anderson Mitchell ,
Attorney-General J. R. J . Daniel , A. 0 . P. Nicholson and Bishop
Otey of Tennessee, B. F. Moore , and his own future associates on
the Supreme Court, Judges W. H. Battle and M. E. Manly. 19
Although we cannot be sure, it is entirely probable that Pearson was one of
those drunken revel lers who celebrated their graduation from the University
in 1823 in a fashion which was said to have I ived on for many years in the
memories of Chapel Hi I I residents . 20
According to the testimony of three men who knew him wei I in later I ife,
Pearson had long since resolved to seek the highest ranks of the lega l
profession, amass a substantial fortune, and establish a secure and comfor­table
family I ife . 21 Soon after his graduation , Pearson entered th~ law
school of Judge Leonard Henderson near Williamsboro in Granvil le County.
He had chosen his mentor wei I; and his association with Henderson was to be
5
an important and influential one. Among his fellow students at Henderson 's
school was Wi I I lam Horn Battle , the man who in later years would become his
chief riva l as the preeminent legal educator in North Carol ina . 22
The Raleigh Register of 7 March 1826 carried an advertisement for
Henderson's law scho~l which in some ways anticipated the advertisements
which Pearson would run after the establishment of his Mocksvi I le school some
fourteen years l ater:
Law School
have four offices for the reception of Law Students , and shal I
have a fifth prepared in a short time.
I sha l I not deliver formal lectures , but wi I I give explanations
whenever requested , examinations wi I I be frequent , & conversations
held on law and topics connected therewith occasionally , most
usually at table after meals. Instruction and boarding , exclusive
of washing and candles, at $225 a year .
Sources differ as to whether Pearson spent two or three years at Henderson ' s
law schoo1 . 23 It is known , however , that in 1826 he obtained his I icense to
practice law in the county courts of North Carol ina.24
Soon after receiving his I icense, Pearson began his practice in Sal is-bury
and the surrounding area . In contrast to most young lawyers who were
forced to struggle through the early pe riod of their careers, he seems to
have prospered from the start:
He had a good practice almost from the beginning of his career,
and in a few years he stood as an acknowledged equal among the
distinguished lawyers of his circuit of larger experience and
consumate abi lity .25
Within four years after his admission to the bar, he is said to have r epaid
his half- brother, Joseph , in ful I the $2,000 which had been advanced for his
education . 26
In 1829 Pearson entered public I ife as a member of the North Carol ina
House of Commons for Rowan County . Moreover , he continued to represent
Rowan for four consecutive terms through 1832 , the year of his marriage
r,
I
6
~ to Margaret McClung Wi I I lams of Tennessee . 27 Although it can scarcely
be mentioned within the scope of this report , Pearson became embroi led in
at least three rather myster i ous "affairs of honor, " involving his Rowan
associates in the House and Senate, Charles Fisher and David F. Caldwel I,
a Thomas J. Green,and one Dr . Ashbel Smith . 28 Indeed, Smith is supposed
to have posted a b i I I in Sa I i sbury pub I i c I y denouncing Pearson as "a Liar,
-a Coward, -and a Scoundrel . "29
During his third year in the state legislature, Pearson was introduced
to his future wife, Margaret McClung Wi I Iiams , while she and her family
were visiting the ancestra I homep I ace of the ~I i I I i ams fam i I y at "Panther
Creek" in Surry County . Smitten by the mere sight of her, Pearson is
supposed to have said to his friend Daniel W. Courts: "Dan, if I had the
money I would follow that g i rl to Tennessee and marry her." Wishing to
assist his fri end , Courts is reported to have lent Pearson the money, and
30
thereby to have launched his courtship . Whether or not this story is
true, it is certain that Pearson wasted no time in pressing his suit . In
a letter of 2 February 1831 to Wi I I iam A. Graham , James Graham commented
drol l y upon Pearson ' s westward passage through Rutherfordton :
Our friend Dick Pearson passed through here
of January on his way to the Warm Springs .
last of this week and report the gTgrees of
according to Hymen ' s Thermometer.
about the middle
He wi I I return the
heat in Tennessee
Margaret McClung WI I Iiams was the daughter of Col. John Wi I Iiams and
his wife , the former Melinda White . Col . John Wi I I lams had been born at
Panther Creek In Surry County on 29 January 1778, the son of Joseph and
Rebecca Lanier WI I Iiams . Subsequently , he had studied law in Salisbury,
had moved to the Knoxvi I le area of Tennessee, and had served in the United
States Senate from 1815 unti I his defeat by Andrew Jackson in the elections
of 1823. Fo l lowing this defeat, he had served briefly as Minister to the
7
Central American Federation and had afterwards been active in state po l !tics
and the private practice of law . 32 Melinda White was the daughter of James
White, founder of Knoxvi I le , Tennessee, and subsequently a Senator in that
state. Her mother, Mary Lawson, was a daughter of Hugh Lawson of Rowan
County . 33
Dur.ing nis in itial sojourn to Tennessee in January and February of 1831 ,
Pearson was apparently encouraged by his readings of "Hymen ' s Thermometer."
On 12 June of the fo l lowing year (1832) , he and Margaret McClung WI I Iiams
were married in Knoxvi I le, "according d:0 the r ites of the Presbyterian
Church . "33
Litt le can be learned of the fi rst yea rs of the i r marriage . Accord-ing
to RobertP.:dniDJck , Pearson "commenced his ma r ried I ife at Mocksvi l ie .. . . "34
It is possible, however , that the couple's first years were passed elsewhere,
perhaps Sa li sbu ry. In any event , it is clear that Richmond and Margaret Pear­son
had established a residence in Mocksvi I le by 1835, only a few miles north
of the or iginal RichmoQd Hi I I. The records of the old Joppa Presbyterian
Church near Mocksvi I le document the bapt ism of Margaret Pearson on 27 September
1835 . This same source a lso records her membership in the C~u rch in 1837,
the baptism of an unnamed infant on 2 Sept~mber 1836, and t he baptism of
Ellen Brent Pearson (the secone eldest daughter) on 16 February 1840. 35
In 1833 Pearson was nomi nated by the legis lature for a place on the
Superi or Court bench ; but for reasons which are not at a lI clear, he decl ined
the nomination . It has been speculated that he wished to continue in private
pract ice at this t ime in order to repay the debt which he owed to his half­brothe
r Joseph .. 36 One of the chief sources of biographical information on
Pear son , however, states that th is debt had already been repaid . 37
8
In 1835 Pearson was a candidate tor the Congress of the United States; but
his defeat by Abraham Rencher a l I but ended his aspirations tor pol itical ottice. 38
Considering his subsequent contributions to the legal history of his state
and nation, it may wei I have been fortunate that his early politica l ambitions
were frustrated:
Looking at his subseQuent career this defeat may be regarded as a
fortunate event in h is I ife .... Withdrawing himself, tor I ite, from
the po li tical arena, In which from his character and habits his success
was very doubtful , he devoted himse lf with renewed energy ... to t he
studies appropriate to that grofession of which he was destined
to reap the highest honors.39
During the tol l0wing year Pearson was elected to the North Carol ina Superior
Court bench; and for twelve years thereafter he served wfth conspicuous dis-t
inction.40
Although Pearson apparently did not formally establish his law school
in Mocksvi I le unti I wei I after his e levat ion to the Superior Court bench , he
had begun to instruct Individual stu~ents much earlier. In a letter of
4 December 1831, James R. Dodge informed Thomas Ruffin that young John Kerr
of Richmond , Virginia was studying law in the home of Nicholas L. Wi I I iams
at Panther Creek, "with some assistance from Mr . Pearson ."41 Counci I S.
Woo-ten would later write :that "J udge John Kerr was his first student. "42
Another source states that Wil.liam D. Crawford of South Carolina studied
law with Pearson in Salisbury between 1825 and 1827 . 43 This is almost
surely a mistake, however, for Pearson himself was not admitTed to the bar
unti I 1826 .
It is difficu lt to determine exactly when the Mocksvi I le law school
was opened . Robert Paine Dick states that it was opened "soon after Chief
Justice Pearson was elected a Superior Court Judge [1836]. 1144 However,
an advertisement which appeared in the Raleigh Register on 16 June 1840
indicates that the school may not have commenced operatioh unti I several
9
years after Pearson's elevation to the Superior Court bench :
Law School
I nave opened a Law School at Mocksvi I le, Davi~ County. The
mode of instruction is that adopted by the late Chief- Justice
Henderson, fami I iar conversation.
No young gent leman wi I I be recommended for License unt i I he
has studied one year; I adv ise two years as the term of preparation .
The charge wl I I be ·one hundred dol Iars, whether the student remains
one year or two years . Students who have County Court License, may
attend ou r conversations without charge.
Books wi I I be furnished .
Mocksvl I le is healthy , and offers but few temptations for dissi­pation
and irregularity.
The price of boarding in the Vi I lage $7 . 50 per month exclusive
of washing , which wi I I cost $1.00 per month.
The Mocksvi I le school was conducted in a smal I brick bui !ding which
fronted on Gaither Street near the corner of North Main . Many students
boarded at the "White House, " so cal led because it was said to be the first
painted house in Mocksvi I le. The White House had been orig inally consTructed
by Hugh Wilson of Virginia as a private residence; but, by the time of Judge
Pearson's law school, it was being operated as a hotel by one Lemuel Bingham.
In 1930 the White House was sti I I standing; but by 1969 the Junker Feed Mi I I
occupied Its former location . Law students are also thought to have occupied
offices near the White House along Salisbury Street. The Pearson r.esidence
itself was also standing as late as 1930, at which time it was the home of
J. B. Johnstone. The brick office, however, had long since disappeared by
that time.45
One of the attractions of Judge Pearson's Mocksv i I le school seems to
have been its relatively low cost. On 29 March 1844, for example, Mrs.
Wi I I iam H. Battle wrote ber husband that one prospective student had
chosen to study in Mocksvi I le rather than come to his more expensive
school at the University:
Lawrence of Tarboro wr ites that he has seen Judge Pearson &
~
~
10
finds that ip wi I I be cheaper for him to study at Mocksvi I le than
here - he regrets it very much [and] says he would prefer this
place but for that.46
It was apparently in 1846 that Judge Pearson and his family removed to
Richmond Hi I I in what was then Surry and is now Yadkin County, although it
must be noted that sources differ as to the date of this important move . 47
In 1941 Dr. Adelaide Fries was shown a letter which had been sent to
Rockford by way of Judge Pearson on 30 January 1847 ; and from this she con-eluded
that the move to Richmond Hi I I had taken place during the preced i ng
year. 48 This conclusion is supported by a letter of 29 October 1856 from
Judge Pearson to Or . Elisha Mitchel I, in which Pearson chanced to remark
that "some ten years ago I purchased a plantation on the [Yadkin] river. 49
Pearson's reasons for removing to Richmond Hi I I cannot now be fully
discovered . Perhaps Counci I S. Wooten sheds more I ight on this matter
than any other source :
After his elevation to the bench he removed to Yadkin County
[then Surry] and settled on the Yadkin river, a few miles from
Rockford , and established a law school. This was a quiet , se­cluded
spot and the nearest point to the rai I road was High Point ,
a distance of about forty miles . He told me he selected this
place so he could get away from the wh i rl and excitement of society,
so that his students cou l d be quiet and have nothing to withdraw
their minds from their books . He would jokingly say to his boys
that it was a good Qlace to wear their old clothes . It was an ideal
place for a school , 50
In addition to the natural beauty and seclusion of Richmond Hi I I , it is
probable that its proximity to Rockford must have been a significant induce-ment.
Unti I 1850 and the creation of Yadkin County, Rockford was the county
seat of Surry , and was therefore the hub of the large county ' s legal and
political I ife . 51 After the removal of Surry ' s county seat to Dobson ,
however, Richmond Hi I I ' s isolation became virtually complete, and Rockford
sank into a condition of rustic somnolence.
l
•
II
While conducting her research for the North Carol ina Society for the
Preservation of Antiquities in 1941 , Dr . Adelaide Fries was unable to
find any indication of how Judge Pearson had come into possession of the
Richmond Hi I I property, though she expressed "a hunch " that the land had
come from the Wi I I lams fami ly . 52 This researcher has met similar frustra­tion
in his attempt to locate legal documents recording Judge Pearson's
acquisition of the land , although an extensive search has been conducted
in Raleigh , Dobson , and Yadkinv i lie. It can now be established , however ,
that Dr . Fries was correct in her "hunch" that the land came to Pearson
from the relatives of his first wife . An 1841 document,~ with map., located
among the Surry County deeds provides ample proof that the Richmond Hi.l I
property had once been a part of the huge land holdings of Joseph Wi I Iiams ­the
first Mrs. Pearson's paternal grandfather . This same document a l so
reveals that the property had been assigned to her father , John Wi I I lams,
in the protracted and complex division of Joseph Wi I I lams' lands which
followed his death in 1827 . 53 This division had been necessitated by the
long and campi icated wi I I of Joseph Wi I I lams, which had cal led for the
part i tion i ng and distribution of h i s lands under the superv i sion of a gro~p
of " judicious men indifferently chosen not exceeding twelve in numbe r . " 54
In the deed by which Richmond Hi I I was conveyed to George Z. Poindexter
on 23 July 1884 , Richmond Pearson , executor of his father ' s estate, acknow ­ledged
that the land was "one of the portions of the Estate of the late
Joseph Wi I I lams of Surry County, whose title thereof dated back to the
beginning of this Century." In this s ame deed , he also made reference
to a deed of "about 1844 11 which recorded the transference of the property
from John Wi I I lams to his father. 55 This deed cannot be located . It is
apparent, however, that the John Wi I Iiams referred to was not John Wi I I lams,
12
the father of Margaret McClung Wi I Iiams , tor he had died in 1837 . 56 In his
concise wil I , dated 8 August 1837 , John Wi I I lams had appointed his wife,
Melinda Wi I Iiams (nee White) , as sole execut ri~ and had left her alI of
his property both real and personal . No specific land holdings were
mentioned . 5
7
Melinda Wi I Iiams died i ntestate during the following year;
and Joseph L. Wi I Iiams was appointed administrator of her estat e . 58 In
Feb r uary of 1839 J osep h L. Wi I I lams rendered a partial return of Me li nda
Wi I Ii ams ' estate; but it cons i sted entire!¥ o f pers o na l pr ope r t y . Aga i n,
there was no mention of her land holdings . 59
Now John \vi I I i ams had a son of the same name , who was born in 1818,
served in the Tennessee Genera l Assembly from 1845 to 1849 and from 1859
to 1861, and died at Knoxvi I le in Apri I of 1881.60 The conclusion drawn
by thi s researcher Is that the future Richmond Hi I I property had passed
from John Wi I I lams , the father of the first Mrs . Pearson , to John Wi I Iiams ,
her brother , and that Judge Pearson purchased the property from h i m.
The present two- story brick structure was not the origina l Pearson home
at Richmond Hi I I . Unfortunate ly , we know very I ittle of the f i rst house ,
no vestige of which remains . John W. Hays, a student at Richmo nd Hi I I in
1853 and 1854 , described " the house in which Judge Pearson I ived [as being]
of two stories with a stretch of single- story rooms in the rear, fo r ming
an L, with a long piazza reaching to alI the outer rooms . 11 61 Little else
can be learned of the original house except tor the few deta i Is which can
be gleaned from fami l y letters and papers. Two letters of early 1860, for
example , refer to a eel lar which was being us ed for the storage of Irish
potatoes and as a repository for ashes prior to the construction of "an
ashes house . 11 62 A receipt dated 9 September 1853 seems to in dicate that
there was a separate kitchen and k1tchen eel la r, for one Geo r ge A. Locke
. ..
: ' . . . .. •. I
13
had been paid $8 . 00 "for fi I I ing up the kitchen eel lar, the dirt dug out
of the store eel lar."63 A receipt dated 21 Apri I 1856 records Pearson's
payment to one Armstead Harrison for work he had done on the house during
the previous year: I) 11 3 days painting at your house and I found some of
the paint - 4.00;" 2) " 5 seTts of [i I legible] Blinds - 20 . 00" 3) "I days
work hanging the blinds - 1. 00 ." 64 This same Harrison was apparently en -
gaged to place shutters on t he wi ndows of the orig i nal house . I n an un-dated
letter to her father in Rale i gh , El i za , the e ldest daughter , asked
for instructions concer ning this work :
Tomorrow Unc le Nick [Nioholas L. Wi I Iiams , the youngest son
of Joseph Wi I I lams] is going to Rockford to get the window
shutters .... How much ought shutters for four windows to
be worth Papa? I wi I I send word to Mr . Harrison [that] you
wi I I pay him whatever you think they are worth . 65
According to the account left by John W. Hays, there was a fence and
gate to the rear of the original house which one entered as he approached
from the river after crossing from Rockford : " .. . we walked over to the
Judge ' s approaching his house from the rear . We were met by the Judge
with some of his smalle r children, at the gate. " 66 The fencing on the
Pearson property may have been very e xtensive i n the ear l y and mid-1 850 ' s ,
it not l ater as wei I . On 19 Feb r uary 1855 one P . F. Merony was payed
"For making and putting up 500 Rai Is . " In completing this task Merony
had used ten loads of wood during May of the previous year . 67
It was in the log house that the Pearson family I ived from 1846 to
1860 . 68 Similar two- story log houses existed in the mid - nineteenth century
in the vacinity of Richmond Hi I I . In the early 1860's there was at least
one such house and a log church in East Bend , which at that time was a very
smal I settlement surrounding the stores kept by Robert Poindexter and Hamp
Martin . 69 In Rockford there were at least two such houses in the mi d- nineteenth
14
century , one of which was the residence of Thomas Frank l in Prather , who had
come to Rockford in 1841 and established a general store and tobacco factory
there . 70
In 1848 , only two years after removing from Mocksvi I le , Pearson was
elected by a Democratic legislature to fi I I the vacancy on the Supreme
Court bench left by the death of Justice Daniel.71 Over the next three
decades his service as a Supreme Court Justice would alternate regula r ly
with his teaching duties at Richmond Hi II .
By his marriage to Margaret McClung Wi I Iiams , Pearson is repo r ted to
have had ten children, only three of whom survived at his death in 1878 . 72
The following Information concerning the Pearson children has been pieced
together from a variety of sources:
I) Richmond Pearson was the first child born to Richmond M. and
Margaret Pearson . An inscription on his grave in the Pearson
cemetar y near Cooleemee in Davie County records that he was born
on 22 June 1833, one year after the ir marriage , and that he died
in June of the following year . 73
2) Eliza (Lizzie) Pearson was born about 1836 , attended St. Marys
in Raleigh, married John H. Bullock of Granvi I le County on 20 May
1860 , settled In Hi I lsboro, Texas , and predeceased her tather . 74
3) Ellen Brent Pearson was born about 1839 , ma rri ed future North
Carol ina Governor, Daniel G. Fowle, at Richmond Hi I I on 15 Apr i I 1856,
and died in Raleigh on 13 December 1862 . 75
4) Ma r y Wi I I lams Pearson was born about 1841 , married E. Hayne Davis
at Richmond Hi I I on 2 November 1859 , settled in Statesvi I le, and
survived her father .76
5) Sarah (Sal I ie) C. Pearson was born about 1843 , married James M.
Hobson on 20 July 1867 , settled in Greensboro, Alabama , and survived
her father.77
6) John W. Pearson was born about 1845 , served the Confederacy as
a Lieutenant during the Civi I War, attended U. N. C. in 1865 - 66 , and
died unmarried i n 1866 .78
7) Laura Green Pearson was born at Richmond Hi I I on 28 Apri I 1848 ,
where she remained unti I she died unmarried on 24 September 1870 . 79
15
8) Fannie Pearson was born at Richmond Hi I I about 1850 and apparently
d i ed as a chI I d before 1860. It is poss i b I e that s·he was a twin to
her sister Margaret.80
9) Marga ret Pearson was born at Ri-chmond Hi I I about 1850 and apparently
died unmarried before 1870 . She was possibly a twin to her sister Fannie. 81
10) Richmond Pearson was born at Richmond Hi I I on 26 January 1852, graduated
from Princeton Univers_ity i·n 1872, studied law with his father , married
Gabrie lle Thomas of Richmond , Virginia on 30 March 1882, served as United
States Congressman and as Minister to Persia , Greece, and Mentenegro,
and died at his home, "Richmond Hi II," in Ashevi l.le on 12 September 1923.82
By the time of John W. Hays ' arrival at Richmond Hi I I in March of
1853, alI ten of the Pearson children had been bor-n . Nine of them sti I I
survived, the first child , Richmond , having died long ago in Mocksvi I le .
Hays' personal recollections of the Pearsen c~i ldren are s uff iciently informa-tive
to merit quoting at consi derable length:
The Judg·e's family at th is time , 1853, was -unbroken and consis-ted
of his wi f e , the first Mrs . Pearson (nee Wi I I iams) and their eight
chi ldren [he does not mention Margaret] ... . Miss Eliza Pearson, -th·en
blooming into young womanhood, who had just qui t school (St . Mary ' s)
with her moth~ r ' s fair and rosy compl exion, was attractive in person
and possessed of qualities of heart and mind which made her a general
favorite . .. .
Ell en Brent Pearson had recently returned from a visit to relat ives
in Greensboro , Ala . She had her father's features, a rosy cheeked
brunette, with that same penetrating black eye but of a remarkably
sweet and gentle d isposition. She was intellectual and in a high
degree . She read much , and of books such as a re not usually sought
by young people, but she carried into these studies al I the charming
simp I ici-ty of children and was seemingly unconscious that she was do i ng
anything out of the ord inary . She loved the Bible and loved her church
but made no obtrusive display of her rei igious f~ i th . ...
Mary Pearson had perhaps a more marked i nd i vi dua I i ty than any 9f
the rest of the ch i ldren . She had her mo-ther's features but none of
her d ign i fied reserve, and was without any special fondness for I itera­ture
at that time. She was a good st4dent with~ most excel lent mind.
She was one of those i n·dependent spi ri ts that win your admIrat ion
and respect with never a thought of seeking them . She was afraid of
nothing . There was no feat so daring that she would not undertake it
whether it was c I i mb i ng the steep c I i ffs of the ' Lime Rock ' [just
downstream from Richmomd Hi I I] or break i ng .one of her fathe r' s unruly
colts . . . .
Of John Pearson , the o ldest son, who I th ink was next to Mary in
age, I have no very distinct impression. He was a youngster with a
bright mind and with a rather wi.ltul and unruly temper . There was
nothing to distinguish him especially from other boys of his age .. . .
16
Sal I ie Pearson was at this time a sweet and interesting I ittle
lassie . Everybody loved her. She was fond of reading and sometimes
gave forth crude and amusing opinions of the books she had read .
She resembled her sister Eliza , both in features and disposition .. ..
Laura Pearson , though a child , was a remarkably bright one . She
had her father ' s face, with the penetraTing black eyes, black hair ,
ruddy cheeks - a decided brunette . ...
Little Fannie was the pet of the household. have not been able
to follow her subsequent I ife . .. .
Richmond was then the baby, a I ittle tot of whom his father was
very proud . 83
Sou r ces reveal very I ittle concerning Margaret McClung Wi I Iiams,
Judge Pearson 's first wife and the mother of alI his children. Hays
remembered her as having been "an exceedingly fine-looking woman with
a rich, rosy complexion and patrician features , ot rather portly size
but graceful in every movement and of kind disposition , " who had about
her a quality of "dignified reserve."84 Unfortunate ly , the first Mrs . Pearson ,
like the second , seems never to have been happy at Richmond Hi I I . Moreover ,
she was traglcal ly afflicted with a progressive and apparently congenital
insanity which , during the last two years of her I ife, loomed darkly ove r
the household.
During the summer of 1854, if not before, Margaret Pearson ' s aberations
o f mind began t o assume serious proportions . In a letter of 10 July Dr .
A. M. Henderson advised Judge Pearson to be gentle, loving , patient , and
supportive of his wife, so that she might have some hope of regaining her
heal th . He went on to Inform Pearson of something he had, surprisingly ,
never known - that his wife's mother, Melinda White Wi I Iiams, had committed
suicide in a fit of insanity nearly twenty years before. In Henderson ' s view,
Pearson would have to exert every effort to prevent his wife ' s own self-destruction
. Henderson pI a:::ed at l!east some of the b I arne for Mrs . Pearson's
condition on the fact· that the isolated and rustic life at Richmond Hi I I
had always been uncongenial and frustrating to her . While Pearson had been
17
able to pursue his highest ambitions , his wife had been obi iged to "abandon
alI her asperations," especially the desire she had always had to lead a
"fashionable 1 ife . "85
Mrs. Pearson's condition evidently continued to deteriorate. By November
of 1854 she had been placed under the care of Dr . J. K. Mitchel I in Phi ladel -
phia, who , on I I November , informed Judge Pearson that, following an initial
improvement, her iI I ness had taken a serious turn for the worse:
Soon after Mrs . Pea r son ' s arrival , her hypochondr iasis decl l ned
rapid ly , so as to g i ve me reasonable hope of a speedy resto r ation to
health. About five days ago, I am sorry to say , her disease became
suddenly violent , & her present condition amounts almost to nervous
insanity . - Indeed , unless successfully treated such cases run into
total aberration of mind, so as to require the restraint of a hospi ­tal.
- Under the circumstances I feel bound to give you timely no-tice
of such an event which I am pained to communicate . - At present the
mental state is sound except on one subject, & that is a vague & un ­defined
wretchedness, with constant dread of some impending evi I .
Dr . Mitchel I went on to express the hope that continued confinement and treat-ment
with n i trate of silver might produce beneficial results . 86
Despite the grimness of Dr . Mitchel I ' s diagnosis, Mrs. Pearson was able
to return to Richmond Hi I I late in the year. However , in a letter of 30
January 1855, relative and neighbor Robert WI I Iiams made it abundantly clear
to Judge Pearson that any improvement in his wife ' s condition had proven
tragical ly short- 1 ived :
And now judge I hope you wi I I pardon me for writing about the con ­dition
of your poor wife. The truth is she is in the most awful
state of mind & something must or ought to be done or she wi I I be
a raving maniac - forgive me for the harshness of the word as I
am unable to express her true condition in a more de l icate manner .. ..
I saw her a few days ago & resolved to write even at the risk of
being considered officious. She is judge in the worst condition
I have ever yet seen her & what can be done to rei leve her God
only knows . ..• She says she wants to return to the North & hopes
to be cured but if she is not it her de s ire to go into an asylum .
I hope Judge for the sake of your dear children you wi I I let her
go, for to tel I the truth it is my firm believe [sic] unless she
is soon rei ieved she wi I I put an end to her existence . 87
Alarmed and grieved over his wife's wretched condition and her threats
18
of suicide, Pearson hasTened her back to Phi !adelphia, where she was com-mitted
to the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane for thirty- four weeks,
from 18 February to 17 October 1855 .88 Aga in she showed evident s igns
of improvement. lnde~~, a letter to Pearson rrom a f riend in Fayettevi I le
reveals t hat, after her r-e lease , Mrs. Pea r.son bad traveled to the Capitol
'
and had been presente~ to President Frank l i~ Pierce:
I had the §OOd fortune to meet Mrs . P. aT Washington , and to
present her to the President, who remembered and spoke pleasantly
of you . I hope s i ncere ly my friend that Mrs . Pearson ' s recove~y
is permanent.89
But Mrs . Pearson ' s recovery was anything but permanent . Her condition
now began to deteriorate beyond the reach of hope; and her mental agita-tion
placed her I ife In e ver increasing peri I . Just after Christmas ,
on the 27th of December 1855, her troubled mind tina! ly found release at
Richmond Hi I I. On 10 January 1856 the Fayettev i I le Observer carried the
following notice of her death :
Died
At Richmon~ Hi I I, Yadkin County , on the 27th inst., Mrs . Margaret
Pearson, aged 42 , wife of the Hon . R. M. Pearson of the Supreme Court,
and daughter of the late Col . Wi I Iiams of Tennessee . She was attacked
with paralysis in the ha·nd, which at first appeared slight , but its
encroachment, together with fever, continued obstinately to go on ,
unti I it was supposed to have reached the heart, when it resulted
in sudden dissolution .
Bes ides her husband, she left a family of eight chi ldren.90
The period surroundi ng the death of Margaret Pea rson must have been a
time both of deep tragedy and domestic upheaval at Richmond Hi II. The eldest
daughter, Eliza , was forced to endure hot only her mother ' s death , but the
rejection of a suitor as well - one Dr . F. Waddle , wHh:. whom she was deeply
in love. It was Waddle ' s serious drinking problem which prompted Judge Pear-son
to ref use his daughter' s hand. In a letter of 4 January 1856, only one
week after the death of Mrs. Pearson, El iza informed her father (already
19
returned to Raleigh) that she had broken off the proposed marriage in
accordance with his wishes. It is of interest to note that ihis letter also
revea ls that the original house too had a parlor and upstairs bedrooms:
[Dr. Wadel I] sent me a note this morning & when he came I wenT
down to the parlour & told him it was your wish I should reject
him & I knew it was best. He has gone now & wi I I not return
again.91
S I nee the <"Onset of her mother ' s i I I ness l n the summer of 1854 , much
of the responsibi I ity for the household and the care of the younger child -
ren had been borne by Ellen Brent and , to a lesser extent , by Eliza , who
was often confined to her bed by a chronic and apparently serious throat
condition . Ellen Brent herself was in the throes of a courtship with future
Governor Daniel G. Fowle during the period just prior to and after the death
of her mother . In a letter of 17 February 1856 sent by way of Fowle who
wa s departing for Raleigh, Ellen Brent apprised her father of the state of
affairs at Richmond Hi I I:
Mr . Fowle leaves for Raleigh tomorrow & as he wi I I be much quicker
and safer than the mai I I must write to you by him .. . . The children
areal I wei I & happy . Johnnie had a bad headache the other day, but
I cured him & sent him off to school this morning. Pauline & Mary
Womack [close neighbors] are staying with us . Lol Ia [Laura , sometimes
also referred to as "Lol I" ] paid Mary such a long visit & Mrs . Womack
has always been so k i nd that Sister [EI iza] wrote & asked her to let
her children stay with us for a week or two while it Is so cold .
Sister ' s throat is better sometimes & then again is as bad as ever .
She has been in her room [upstairs] now nearly seven weeks . Dr.
Wilson has sent medicine but has not come yet.9Z
But this same letter goes on to reveal that Ellen Brent herself was not
feeling wei 1. Indeed , she had grown pathetical ly fearful that she had
inherited her late mother's insanity; and she was fraught with misgivings
as to whether or not she should marry:
Father I have not felt very wei I since I came home sometimes.
fear I may have the nervous disease. have never mentioned it
to you before Father , because I thought I might be distressing you
unneccessari ly & perhaps I might escape it . For the last few weeks
I have dreaded it more than ever and now I think you ought to know i t .
20
Mr . Fowle asked how long he must walt before I married him & I
referred him to you . Father wi I I it be right for me ever to
marry him , while there is danger of my being afflicted I ike my
dear Mother was? While I was in Raleigh I began to fear the
disease & I told Mr . Fowle about it. He said he had thought of It
alI before he addressed me ... . He thinks there wl I I be less
danger if I marry him . I don ' t know . If God should see fit not
to aft I ict me , I know we would be happy together, because we love
each other, but if I am to be aft I icted what a miserable I ife ours
would be . .• . Father, talk to Mr . Fowle about it, make him see how
awful the reality wi I I be if I should have the disease . . .. We wi I I
be guided by what you say . Should you decide for me to marry , Father
I must continue to take care of the chi l dren for you . Sis t er ' s
[EI lza~ throat makes it impossible for her to attend to them . sister
Mary cannot do it as we i l as I can & Mother left Fan[n i e] & Ri ch[mond]
to me. I understand brot her John , so you must let me have them alI
except Lol Ia [Laura] . Sister c l aims her . The children alI love
me, & though I am only seventeen , I think I can manage them better
than any one else .... If you think I had better marry soon do let
me take them to Raleigh with me . Mr . Fowle wi I I be wi I I ing for
them to be with me & you can see them more than four months every
year . If you think I had better wait two or three years before I
marry , if I ever do , then Father you wi I I sti I I let me have them ,
won't you . Write to me very soon my dear Father . Whatever you
decide on shal I satisfy me , for I wi I I be sure it is best fo r
us a II . 93
Within two months the decision had been made for Ellen Brent ' s marriage
I
plans to proceed , despite alI the personal and domestic difficulties to be
overcome . On 15 Apri I 1856 E l len Brent Pearson and Danie l G. Fowle were
joined in wed lock a t Richmond Hi I I by the Rev . John H. Parker. 94 A paper
dated I September 1856 , and signed by " Dan ' I G. Fowle ," ind icates that Judge
Pearson gave substantial assistance to the newlyweds in establishing a home
in Raleigh : " as an advancement for my wife, Ellen Brent , the amount of
$5 , 000 in cash , 3 slaves, and a house & lot, from Richmond M. Pearson . "95
It is apparent that Judge Pearson now felt a pressing need to secure
a housekeeper who would care for the young children at Richmond Hi I I . A
note of 5 November 1856 , for example , reveals that he had endeavored , through
a friend , to engage the services of a Mrs . Betsy Shore of Salem , but that his
attempt had been unavai I ing :
Through the kindness o f Wm. F lynt, I have heard from Mrs . Sho r e ,
who refuses to qu it Mr . Fries ' fami l y tor~ considerat i on ; She
21
has determined to 'I ive and die' with her present good Master and
Mistress. I am sorry she cannot be induced to take care of your
ch i I d ren. 96
Fai I ing to secure a housekeeper , Judge Pearson apparently made arrangements
for his family as best he could . By 23 November 1856 Sal lie was staying
with an aunt in Greensboro and attending a school there; Laura and Margaret
were staying with the Womacks ; John was with the Fowles in Raleigh ; and Eliza
remained at home . 97
During the years following the death of his first wife, Judge Pearson
set his cap for several eligib l e women , prominent among whom was a rMc-s ·.".:: WaJ' ker,
he r self a widow with a smal I child . By the fa I I of 1857 Pearson had made
discreet inquiries about her , and by al I accounts she was both bright and
attractive . A letter to Pearson from a niece In Galveston , Texas indicates
that he had firmly resolved to marry Mrs. Walker. 98 A subsequent letter
from this same niece, however , reveals that Pearson ' s proposal had been
rejected , Mrs . Walker having decided never to remarry . This feTter also
reveal s that Judge Pearson was already dreading the lonel lness of old age:
l think you look almost too far a head - it wl I I be long before
~your children leave yo~J - perhaps one or two of yo ur daughters
never wl I I . I do not think It absolute ly necessary that girls shou l d
marry - and believe many would be happier If they never did - and
even tho ' they shou ld do so, could you not find a happy home with
some of them? , or one or the other of them might I ive with you .
Surely with so many , ~ed such children as yours , a Father should
never feel lonely ... .
Within a few months of his rejection by Mrs . Walker, Pearson won a '
different prize which must have afforded him some consolation . After ten
years of distinguished service on the Supreme Court Bench , he was elevated
by his associates , Judges Battle and Ruffin , to the Chief Justiceship of
North Ca r ol ina, fi I ling the vacancy recently lett by the death of Fred erick
Nash .IOO
22
Sihce its formal establishment in 1818, the Supreme Court of North
Carol ina had consisted of two Associate Justices, elected by the leg islaTure,
and a Chief Justice, ~ppolnted by his associates on the bench. Tenure was
fo r I i fe or for the period of good behavior and the sa I ary for a I I JusTices
was fixed at $2 , 500. After 1868, and during the last decade of Pearson ' s
, ' i ;
service on the bench , the Supreme Court was composed of four associaTe Justices
and one Chief Justice, a lI elected by the people for terms of eight years.
It is of interest to note that the sa I ary for a I I Justices remained unchanged . I 0 I
By his elevation to the Chief Justiceship at the age of forty- three, Pearson
had achieved the goal for which he had striven since first embarking upon
a legal career.
During the year fo l lowing his appointment as Chief Justice, Pearson
turned again to the pursuit of a helpmeet and companion . His eyes were
soon fixed upon the wld0w 0f General John Gray Bynum. Bynum had been a
native of Stokes County, who had graduafed from the University of North
Carol ina in 1833, studied law under Judge Gaston , and died at Wilmington
on 17 October 1857 . In 1836 he had married Mary Louisa McDowel I, the
daughter of Captain Charles McDowel I of "Quaker Meadows" in Burke County. 102
The Quaker Meadows in which Mary Louisa McDowel I had grown up was and
is a beautiful two- story brick plantat ion house, bui It in 1812. Zebulon
B. Vance had married his first wife, Harriet Espy, in the parlor of this
house; and for many years it had been prominent in the socia l I ife of
western North Carol i na . It is reasonable to assume that the second Mrs .
Pearson ' s long and pleasant association with Quaker Meadows inf luenced
the bui !ding of the two- story brick home now standing at Richmond Hi 11 . 103
At the time of his death in Wilm ington, John Gray Bynum and his wife
were I iving in a house on the corn,r of Sixth and Orange Streets, "adjo in-ing
the residence of Bishop [Thomas] Atki nson ... [and] valued at three
- i
23
Thousand five Hundred Dol l ars . 'r1°4 Through the division of the estate of
her husband , who died intestate , Mary L. Bynum was entitled to a share of
one third , including a one third share of the "piano and household furni ­ture"
valued at $400.00 . 105 It is very likely that some of this furniture,
and almost certainly the piano, was later moved to Ri chmond Hit I upon
Mrs. Bynum ' s r emarriage to Judge Pearson . 106 It Is extremely inter esting
to note that, when approximately one thi r d of Bynum ' s persona l property
was sold a-t pub li c a uction in Wi lmlngton, " Judge Person " [sic] was I i sted
as the purchaser of "40 vols Law Books. " 107 It Is of further interest
that the court- appointed administrator of the John Gray Bynum esta-te was
h i s brother, Wi I I lam Preston Bynum , who had studied law under Judge Pearson
in Mocksvi I le some fifteen years before and would later sit with him on
the Supreme Court bench .
During the period of her courtship with Judge Pearson , Ma r y L. Bynum
r esided with her parents at Quaker Meadows; and Pearson visited her there
on several occasions in the summer and fa I I of 1859 . The letters which
she sent him during this period reflect wit, charm , in-telligence , and
vita l ity, a l beit some wh at adul terated with an excess of sent im e ntality.
She several times remarked -that her friends were surprised that she would
consider marrying Pearson and assuming responsibility for his numerous
children . Nevertheless , she regarded her prospects sanguine ly :
I think I can win the affections of your children, my earnest
prayer and desire wi I I be to make them happy . With respect to
yourself - I have no fears; I am sure of contributing to your
happiness . 108
Mary Bynum ha~ one chi ld f r om her previous marriage - John Gray Bynum , Jr .,
who had been born in 1846 and was now in the fourteenth year of his age.
For-tunately for both parents , young Bynum appears to have liked Richmond
Hi I I and to have been accepted readily by the Pearson children , espec i ally
John:
In your first [letter], you refer to 'John's friendship for
on their return from Richmond Hi I I I was pleased to see the
macy that had sprung up between them; and I encouraged it.
was delighted with his Logtown excursion . 109
24
Gray 1 -
inti ­Gray
By August of 1859 Judge Pearson was growing eve r more eager for Mrs.
Bynum ' s hand . Indeed , the ardor and speed with which he pressed his suit
verged upon indiscretion in some eyes. On 7 August 1859 , for example,
Wi I I iam Horn Battle dispatched the following comments from Morganton to
his wife in Chapel Hi I I:
Judge Pearson came directly here from Raleigh , and has not been
home at alI . I presume there is no doubt that he and Mrs . Bynum
are engaged to be married , though she has not yet put off
mourning for her first husband.liO
If there had been any doubts as to whether the couple intended mar-riage
, they were laid to rest on the 25th of August , for on that date the
couple formally agreed to a set of marriage articles determining the
control and distribution of their proper ty . With specific regard to the
Richmond Hi I I property, these articles provided that, upon the death of
Judge Pearson, Mary Bynum should have, in I ieu of dower, "a I ife estate in
the two tracts of land on wh i ch he [Pearson] now res ides in the county of
Yadkin, containing about six hundred and fifty acres ." They further
provided that she should
also have a I i fe estate in alI of the furniture which may
be on hand at his death with power ~o dispose of such as she now
owns as she may see p roper & to give the rest to any one or more
of the children of said Pearson ... his purpose being to enable
her to keep up the establishment as a home for the children .... I I I
On 22 September 1859 Richmond M. Pearson and Mary L. Bynum were
married at Quaker Meadows by the Rev . S . C. Roberts. I 12 After remaining
at Quaker Meadows for three days, the couple made its way unhurriedly to
Richmond Hi I I . In a letter to Miss Martha McDowel I, the second Mrs .
Pearson later described the r eception afforded he r by her new fam i ly
25
there :
We traveled leisurely home , had a delightful trip. Gray was
with us ; we reached home in a week, stopped to visit a friend
as we came on : the child r en (five of which were at home) were
delighted to see us and gave me a cordial welcome in the family . I 13
Tragedy soon struck the new marriage . Less than two weeks after the
services were performed in his home , Captain Charles McOowel I was carried
off by pneumonia at the age of seventy- three . 1 14 The Pearsons received
the news while visitir.Jg in Mocksvi lie , from Alphonso C. Avery , "one of
the I aw Students. " I 15 Th h · d b th l t h f th M oug gr1eve y e oss o er a er, rs.
Pearson had now to make preparations for the upcoming marriage of her
stepdaught e r , Mary . Accompanied by the prospective bride and by Eliza ,
Mrs. Pearson traveled to Columbia , South Carol ina to have the wedding
dress made. Returning after twelve days, Mrs. Pearson comp l eted the
necessary arrangements. On the morning of 2 No vember 1859 , Mary W. Pearson
and E. Hayne Davis, "a wealthy young lawyer ot Statesvi lie," were married
at Richmond Hi I I by the Rev . Or. Smedes of Raleigh. Among those in
attendance were many of the law students who had been enrol led during the
fa I I term . 1 16
But tragedy struck again on th e heels of celebration . Those gathered
for the wedding on 2 November could not possibly have known that Mrs.
Pearson's mother , Anna McOowel I, had died at Quaker Meadows on the
preceding day at the age of sixty - six. Ironically, the same issue of
the Raleigh Register carried th e news of both events. I 17
Despite the unexpected loss of both her parents within a month of
her marriage to Judge Pearson , Mary L. Pearson seems to have considered
herself fortunate In her new home and family . On 8 December 1859 she
communicated her feelings to Martha McDowel 1:
You wished me to tell you something of my new home and alI about
26
myself; I am thankful that I can tel I you in alI sincerity that
I have realized alI of my most sanguine hopes of earthly pleasure
in my new married I ife; I th i nk I , and alI who are truly my
friends have every reason to be thankfu l to Divine Providence for
providing me - a desolate widdow [sic] - such a home and such a
protector and one in every way worthy of my affection & respect
as judge Pearson .. .. And his children are as kind , affectionate,
obedient, and respectful to me as I could desire: and I earnestly
hope that alI things may go on with us as they have done ; and I
have no reason to fear a change . Gray too is happy and contented ,
the children areal I as fond of him as if he was there own brother. 118
Mary Pearson ' s view of her husband as a " protector" to whom she owed
"affection and respect" seems to accord with Judge Pearson ' s ow n view of
the proper relationship between husband and wife . Not surprisingly , her
letters frequently indicate that the reins of household sovereignty were
firmly held in his hands . It may be of interest to note that Judge Pear-son
's traditional and rather authoritarian view of a husband ' s role was
manifested in his lega l opinions as well as i n his pr iv ate I ife . In the
case of Houston v. Brown which came before the Supreme Court during the
year of his second marriage , he rendered a decision which repudiated the
notion that a married woman ' s p~operty rights had been significantly en­larged
by legislation of 1848.1 19 P'earson ' s judicial view of a husband -' s
prerogati ve and r esponsibi I tty extended even to the physical abuse of his
wife when justly provoked , although there is no indication whatsoever that
he resorted to this measure in the government of his own household at
Richmond Hi I I . In the case of Joyner v. Joyner (1862), the Supreme Court
was asked to rule on a Northampton County decision which had granted a
woman an in ter loc utory decree of divorce with alimony because her husba nd,
among other cruelties and indignities, had whipped her with a horse whip
and switch with force sufficient to have left " several bruises on her
person ." Chief Justice Pearson asserted that the lower court had not
the
adequately inquired into/motives and circumstances which had provoked the
husband's actions :
The wife must be subject to the husband. Every man must
govern his household , and if by reason of an unruly temper ,
or an unbridled tongue, the wife persistently treats her r stJan..l
husband with disrespect, and he submits to it, he not only
loses alI self- respect, but loses the respect of the other
members of the faml ly, without which he cannot expect to
govern them, and forfeits the respect of his neighbors.
Such have been the incidents of the marriage relati·on from
the beginning of the human race . Unto the woman it is
said, ' Thy des ire shal I be to thy husband , and he shal I
rule over thee, ' Genesis, chap . 3, v. 16. It follows
that the law gives the husband power to use such a
degree of force as is necessary to make the wife be-have
herself and know her place. 120
The Richmond Hi I I to which Judge Pearson brought his wife In
the tal I of 1859 was not only a home and law school , but a sizable
plantation as we i I. Yadkin County was then, as now, primarily a rural
27
and agricultural area , with relatively I ittle industry or manufacturing.
Its principal crops were tobacco, corn , wheat., rye , oats, buckwheat, peas,
beans, and Irish and sweet potatoes , together with neg I igible amounts of
rice and cotton. Predictably, the county also contained a good deal of
livestock - horses, mules, cows, oxen, and sheep. 121 Out of a total
population of 10,714 persons in Yadkln County in 1860, there were 4, 430
white males , 4,676 wnite females , 84 free colored males , 88 free colored
females, 692 male slaves , and 744 female slaves . 122 It has previous ly
been reported that Judge Pearson did "no farming , " that he owned only
"one steer and one horse" and some "scrub cattle," and that his advice
on agricultural ma-tters was a s ubj ect of ridicule among his neighbors. 123
It can no~ be seen, however, that Pearson was the owner of many slaves
and that he was actively engaged in farming at Richmond Hi I I, though on
a smal I scale. The information recorded In the agricu ltural census reports
of 1850, 186q, and 1870 reveal that Pearson produced significant quantities
of corn, wheat, oats, and Irish potatoes. In general, these crops increased
28
in quantity from 1850 to 1860, and then d imin ished by 1870 . With regard
to I ivestock, he owned a smal I number of horses, dairy and beef cattle,
sheep, and swine . His I ivestock too increased from 1850 to 1860, and
then decreased during the next decade . Acreage under cultivation at
Richmond Hi I I rose from 70 in 1850 to 80 in 1860 , then decreased to
46 by 1870 . 124
Despite the relatively smal I acreage which he kept under cultivation,
Pearson seems to have been interested i n progressive agricultural methods,
especially those designed to save the soi I from erosion . In a letter of
29 October 1856 to Dr . Elisha Mitchel I, he explained his agricultunal
methods in considerable detai I . This letter also reveals the approximate
cost of Richmond Hi I I and the condition of the soi I at the time of his
purchase:
I entirely agree with you as to the importance of hi I I side ditching
and hor izontal p l owing, for the pu r pose of saving the soi I. I have
no doubt land is often injured by being turned over too deep , so as
to bring subsoi I on top . As an example some ten years ago I pur­chased
a plantation on the [Yadkin] river, a part of the low ground
wa s then unproductive and considered of no value . I was told it
had been ruined by the former owner, who in the rage of improvement
had turned it over too deep with an iron plow attached to the wheels
of a large wagon drawn by four horses. S i nce I have ow ned it, the
mode of cultivation has been rye and corn alternately, scratching
it merely with a short plow . Under this treatment it has improved
every year and now yields some seven bushels of r ye & twelve of corn
per acre, which, considering the easy cultivation & the hope of
its getting better , does very wei I for land that cost $2.00 per
acre.l25 ---------
In this same letter Pearson expressed his preference in cattle for a
sturdy " ' North Carol ina herd,"' which did not have to be pa mpered I ike
"'race horses " ' and which could be left to fend for itself during the
winter months . 126
One third of the householders of Yadkin County owned slaves in
· 1860; and t he:werage number of slaves owned was approx imately three.l 27
-
29
~ Surprisingly, Judge Pearson ewned 37 slaves at this time : 24 males , 13
females, 36 blacks, and I mulatto . With respect to age, these slaves were
distributed in the following manner: ages 0- 10 , 15 slaves; ages 10- 20 ,
13 slaves; ages 20-30 , 2 slaves; ages 30- 40, 3 slaves ; and ages 40 - 50,
4 slaves . 128 In 1850 there had been 18 slaves at Richmond Hi I 1: 10 males ,
8 females , 17 blacks , and I mulatto. At that time the age distribution
had been: ages 0- 10, 12 slaves; ages 10 - 20, I slave; ages 20-30 , 2 slaves;
ages 30-40 , 3 slaves; and over 40 , none . 129 The heavy preponderance of
very young slaves gives rise to suspicions that Judge Pearson may have
been raising slaves for sale; but this researcher has found no evidence
whatsoever to support these suspicions . 130
Judge Pearson ' s judicial decisions regarding slaves and free blacks
cannot be examined here in detai I. It is apparent , however , that his
views on slavery and on the relationship between the races were not
noticeably in advance of his time. He even set his face against the
proposition that free blacks were entitled to equality before the law , to
say nothing of slaves, whose legal status was, of course, much lower . In
the case of State v . Jowers, appealed from Anson County in December of 1850 ,
the Supreme Court was cal led upon to decide whether
Insolence from a free person of color to a white man wi I I excuse
a battery in the same manner and to the same extent as in the
case of a slave .
The presid i ng judge (Battle) argued that insolence from a free black could
not be construed as sufficient provocation for a white man's attack, because
a free black , unlike a slave, was entitled to equal protection under the
law . Justice Pearson , however , speaking for the majority of the Court,
strongly disagreed with Battle's opinion:
It is unfortunate that this third class [i . e . free blacks]
30
exists in our society .. .. If a slave is insolent, he may be
whipped by his master, or by order of a justice of the peace;
but a free negro has no master to correct him ; [and] a justice
of the peace cannot have him punished for insolence , [because]
it Is not an indictable offense, and unless a white man , to
whom insolence is given , has a right to put a stop to it In
an extrajudicial way , there is no remedy for it . This would
be insufferable. Hence we infer from the principles of the
common law that this extrajudicial remedy is excusable ~ provided
the words or acts of a free negro be in law insolent. 1 ~ 1
In a similar case appealed from Craven County in 1859 (State v . Davis) , the
question before the Court was whether " a free negro has a right to strike a
white man to protect himself from great bodily harm , or grievous oppression ."
On this occasion Pearson upheld the free black's right to self - defense; but
he made it clear that such a resort to self - defense could be tolerated by
the law only under the most extreme circumstances . 13 2
Despite Judge Pearson's judicial expressions regarding the punishment
of slaves and bodily attacks upon free blacks, there is reason to bel i eve
that he and his family regarded their slaves, and later their servants ,
with sentiments of obi igation and affection . Preeminent among the Pearson
slaves after 1855 was "Old Nick," often spoken of In the exchange of letters
between family members . A letter of 30 January 1855 from Robert Wi II iams
yields considerable information concerning Nick and , in addition , reveals
that another of Joseph Wi I Iiams' sons was leaving the lands inherited from
the i r father:
I understand from Mr . Womack through bro[ther] Jo[seph] that
there wi I I be 2 or 3 men from Va [Virginia] here in a few days to
buy my land ... . One of the objects of this letter to you is to
know ' if we trade ' what you wi I I give me for Nick as I am deter­mined
to sel I what few negroes I have if I sel I my land & leave
tor a better Country . I would rather you should get Nick than to
sel I him to a trader as you own his wife & I think he would suit
you as wei I as any negro in the country . He is a fine Negro for
work & would manage for you a great deal better 'I think' than
Sam . He was 40 years old the 30th of Sept . last .
31
Other slaves or servants who played especially prominent roles in the
Pearson household were Emal ine ("Em"), Ritta Davi s , and Fanny Kelly. Mary
L. Bynum had owned Em long before she met and married Judge Pearson; and ,
shortly after their marriage, she asked permission to keep her:
With regard to Em, My dear husband, I wi I I take her to Raleigh
as you direct, but I do not wish to hire her there; I know it
looks fool ish in me-todesire to keep Em with me when there are
so many servants here; but I think it is natural; I raised Em
and taught her to sew, to do up fine clothes, and do fancy cooking
just to my notion and I feel now that I am too old to be at the
trouble to teach another; and I think I might be indu lged this
year in kee~ing her, unless I can hire her and her Ghi ldren to­gether
. ... I 4
Subsequent I etters revea I .that Em was kept on far I onger than a year; and
it is probable that she did much of the finer cooking and sewing at Richmond
Hi I I aft er 1859. Ritta Davis and Fanny Kelly were associated with the Pear-son
family for many years after the Civi I War. At .his death in January of
1878, Judge Pearson bequeathed $100 to each of them "tor their faithful
services." 135 The subsequent fate of Ritta Davis cannot be determined;
but Fanny Kelly continued to p lay an important ro le in fami ly ·affairs .
When Mary L. Pearson d i e.d in Morganton in 1886 one of the provi s ions of
her wi I I was that Fanny Kelly should receive "the mattress which she now
uses," together with such ofher bed clothing as she might desire. 136
Indeed , in his long and comp lex wi II of 23 Apri I 1900, John Gray
Bynum, Jr. estab I i shed a sma II trust for Fanny Ke I I y,
a co I ored· w<bmaAoWh0!1J ld vet!· •W I th·-my .. ril0ther lforr'sten r·~ear; s a l;ld t hen
with my wife and me for twenty years , and was faithfu l and de­voted
to us; and who only left us because I had to have her
leg amputated to save her I ife. 137
Although no attempt can be made here t o describe alI of the real estate
transactions to which Pearson was a party, it must be noted that the tract
of land upon wh ich the house and law school were constructed was but one of
the tracts which he owned in Yadkin County at one time or another. Several
32
~ of these tracts were in the immediate vicinity of Richmond Hi I I, and
were portions of the original lands owned by Joseph WI I Iiams south of
the Yadkln. By a deed of 9 February 1847, Pearson sold to Joseph Wi I Iiams,
Jr . two tracts of land which had formerly been assigned to John Wi I Iiams
and which amounted to approximately 166 acres . 138 On 17 December 1849,
he sold approximately 135 acres of land adjoining Richmond Hi I I to Peyton
Corum and his wife Polly. This property was de scrib ed as "being a tract
of land sold by Rob[er]t WI I I lams to James Caudle in eighteen forty four
& 1 by said Caud le toR . M. Pearson in eighteen forty eight . "l39 It is
of interest to note that Peyton Corum would later offer room and board to
several of Pearson's law students and, according to one local tradiTion ,
supervise the masonry work on the existing house at Richmond Hi I 1. 140 On
29 July 1852 Pearson conveyed to Robert Wi I I lams ' wif e , Cynth ia, a tracT
of some 55 acres, "adjoini ng The place where she now I ives , " for the sum
of one dollar and "in consideration of the affections & esteem which the
said Pearson has for the said Cynthia."1 4 1 The bounda ries described in this
deed reveal that, by July of 1852, Pearson wa s in possession of the tracts
which J. F. Deaderick and Wi I I iam Peden had r eceived thro ugh their wives
out of the lands of Joseph Wi I I lams . On 5 November 1868 Pearson sold
three acres of land TO Wi I I iam A. Poindexter for $200. This relatively
minor transaction deserves mention only because it included "the dwel I ing
house and gard in [sic] now occupied by Joseph WI I Iiams [Jr .] Esq. 142 By
a deed of 5 September 1872 , Pearson sold approximately 75 acres of land to
Lewis Turner for $300 . This land was situated along the Yadkin and had
formerly been "assigned to Mrs . Rebecca Reader i ck [sic , Oeade rick] in
the division of the lands of Maj . [Joseph] Wi I I iams . "l43 In 1875 Pearson
made two important land sales in the immediate vicinity of Richmond Hi I I ,
33
both of which involved land once held by Joseph Wi I Iiams. On 8 May of
that year he was paid $3,000 by one Isaac S. Shugart for 300 acres which
had originally passed to Wi I liam W. Peden through his former wife Mary ,
a daughter of Joseph Wi I Iiams who was currently married to the Rev . Richard
Barber . 144 During the following November Pearson received another $3,000
from J . M. Jones for between two and three hundred acres out of the land
inherited from Joseph Wi I I i ams by Mrs . Rebecca Deaderlck. 145
Some measure of Judge Pearson ' s land holdings in the Richmond Hi I I
area Is provided by county tax records which survive for the period
1851 through 1862 . From 1851 through 1854, Pearson was I isted as the
owner of 640 acres (or 644) valued at $2,300. From 1854 through 1859 ,
his acreage was given as 570 and its value placed at $3,000. In 1800
and 1862 (no I isting for 1861) his property amounted to 295 acres and was
valued at $2 , 000.146 Additional information Is provided by the census
reports of 1850, 1860~and 1870. The value of Pears on's real estate in
1850 was $1 , 500; by 1860 it had risen to $2,000; and by 1870 it had
soared to $18 , 000 . It should be noted , however , that the va lue of Pearson's
personal estate had plunged d ramatically during or after the Civi I War ,
from $150,000 in 1860 to only $20,000 in 1870 . 147
It was , of course, as a law school rather than as a plantation that
Richmond Hi I I acquired its fame and achieved its greatest impact upon the
legal and political life of North Carol ina. Pearson established his law
school in Mocksvi I le and later at Richmond Hi I I during a period of
significant transition in legal education . During the early decades of
the nineteenth century, the great majority of North Carolina lawyers read
law and prepared for their careers in the private offices of experienced
practitioners. In addition to studying under the tutelage of these men ,
students assisted in the day - to-day work of the office and court room - meeting
clients, preparing legal instruments, gathering evidence, consulting authori ­ties
, presenting cases, and preparing appeals . Among the most popular of the
many office teachers in North Carol ina during the first half of the nineteenth
century were Thomas Ruffin , David L. Swain, Robert Strange, Wi I liam Gaston ,
David F. Caldwel I, and Archibald D. Murphy . Instruction and guidance under
this system wa s somet imes haphazard; and emphasis was placed overwhelmingly
on the practical aspects of law at the expense of the theoretical . 148
Although private office instruction produced many fine lawyers , it
became apparent that a more systematic and rigorous method of legal educa­tion
was badly needed . This began to be provided by the several private
law schools establIshed in North Carol ina during the early and middle decades
of the nineteenth century , from which those of Richmond M. Pearson and
Wi I I iam H. Battle were to emerge as preeminent. The first of the private
schools to be advertised publicly appears to have been that established
in Raleigh in 1822 by Chief Justice John Louis Taylor . 149 Very soon after
this, Judge Leonard Henderson began to conduct his school at Wi I I iamsboro
in Gran vi I le County ; and i t was in this schoo l that both Pearson and Battle
prepared for the ir careers. 150 John L. Bailey estab li shed a sma l I law
school in Hi I lsboro and later at Black Mountain; and his son , Wi I I iam H.
Bailey , subsequently operated a law school in nearby Ashevi I le . 151 Wi I liam
Horn Battle and James l r edel I taught law in Raleigh in 1841 . Two years later
Battle moved to Chapel Hi I I and began to instruct students in a two- room
office building in his front yard . Newspaper advertisements spoke of
Battle's school being "at the Un i versity;" but it was not unti I 1845 that the
school became loosely affiliated with the Univers ity and Battle formally
became a Professor of Law (without salary) . 152
35
In general, those who conducted private law schools did so only as an
adjunct to their principal vocations on ·the bench or at the bar. Students
were generally expected to find their own accomodations at or near the
school of their choice . Entrance requirements were minimal or non - exis­tent,
and the educat i ona I backgrounds of studen t~ varIed vl'i.de I y between those
who had I ittle or no formal schooling and those who had graduated from a
col lege or university. Moreover, students were generally allowed to study
as much or as I itt l e as they pleased, as they progressed t0ward the ultimate
goal of their training - the passing of their bar examinations before the
s tate Supreme Court. 153
Since 1818 the examination of applicants for law licenses in North
Carol ina had been the responslbi I ity of two or more Justices of the Supreme
Court . The examinations were entirely oral , and a candidate was free to
present himself whenever he felt adequately prepared . Unti I 1849 the
Supreme Court prescribed no specific course of study for the applicants
who were to appear before it . In that year , however, It was order ed that
applicants should no longer appear for examination unless they had read
a I ist of bas i c texts . 154 In addition to demonstrating a reasonable know ­ledge
of the law, appl !cants for I icense were required to demonstrate that
their reputat i ons and characters presented no affront to the dignity of
the profession they sought to enter . As a general rule, the Supreme Court
refused to issue I icenses to applicants under twenty - one . Two examinations
were required: the first for a license to practice in the county courts;
the second fo r a I icense to practice In the superior courts . Moreover , it
was generally obi igatory that a year elapse between the two examinations . 155
Although appl !cants were commonly apprehensive , there was relatively
I ittle chance that they would fai I their examinations before the S4preme
36
Court Justices . When Wi I I iam M. Nonman of Surry County took his county
court examination i n December of 1859, only two of about fifty applicants
failed . 156 An even more dramatic i I lustration of the ease of the bar
examinations is p rovided by the reported success of the applicants who
had graduated from the famous Dick and Di I lard Law School in Greensboro.
Prior to his death In 1898, Robert Paine Dick told one of his former
students that
during the I ife of the schoo l it had sent to the Sup reme Court
more than 300 applicants for I icenses , not one of whom had
failed to pass; that a few others from the school had tal led to
pass the bar examination, but alI who failed had applied against
his advice . 157
The success rate of Judge Pearson ' s students is not known ; but it can
be safely assumed that they found I i ttle difficulty in being admitted to
the bar .
Beginning lawyers in North Carol ina genera l ly found their first years
i
of practice difficult and unremunerative, despite the assistance and
advice they often r eceived from older and more experienced col leagues. 158
Their offices were commonly smal I and Spartan ; and many were forced to
ride the circuits of the §tate t ire lessly as we i I a s keep regular offi ce
hours in their endeavors to establish a practice and build a reputation . 159
Future Governor of North Ca rol I na , Daniel G. Fowle, found the going very
difficult indeed following his depa r ture f r om Richmond Hi I I in 1853 . His
first year of practice in Raleigh is sa i d to have brought him only $64 . 00
in income . 160 Prospects for young lawyers were especially miserable
after the Civi I War . In a letter sent to his mother from Richmond Hi I I
on 20 February 1866, future United States Congressman , John Steele
Henderson ~ommented upon the gloomy condit ion of the economy and the
surfeit of lawyers:
The Newspapers I see are tryi ng to d i ssuade the young men from
37
leaving their native South - But what else are they to do? Can
they make asupport here? What occupation or business can the
majority of them engage in? There is absolutely nothing for
them to do but emigrate or starve . Now next June at a moderaTe
calculation sixty young men wi I I receive licenses to practise
law in this state. Almost every year about this same number
are I icensed. Is North Carolina large enough for them alI -
It is not and never has been and Is less able now to sustain
them than ever . 161
Judge Pearson's own son , Richmond Pearson, considered the prospects
so bleak and the cond i tions so unsettled in North Carol ina that he ser-ious
l y thought of removing to St . Louis or elsewhere in the west f o ll ow­ing
his graduation from Princeton . 162 Indeed, he did practice law
briefly in St . Louis before returning to North Carol ina in 1878 to ad ­minister
his father ' s estate . 163
Notwithstanding the usual penury and difficulties of the beginning
years, hundreds of young men flocked to the study of law in hopes of build-ing
a successful career . Law was by far the most popular of the profes-sions
in North Carol ina; and it is significant to note that its popularity
rose rapidly during the period just following Judge Pearson ' s removal to
Richmond Hi I I . The census of , 1850 I isted 300 lawyers in the state; by
1860 the number had incr eased to 500 . 164
Merely to reach Richmond Hi I I was no mean task during the middle
decades of the nineteenth century . The nearest point on a rai !road was
at High Point nearly forty miles away. Roads in the area were extremely
poor; and in foul weather they discouraged alI but the most intrepid
travelers. Those who approached Richmond Hi I I from the east or north
found it necessary to cross the Yadkin at shallow points or on one of
the several ferries which had operated since the late eighteenth century .
When swollen by rain, the Yadkin could scarcely be traversed by any means .
John W. Hays of Oxford , NC . left the following account of his initial
38
journey to Richmond Hi I 1:
In the month of March 1853 , Wi II ie H. Jenkins, Lewis ("Nat") Taylor,
Jr ., and I after a tedious journey of about four days from Ox ford in
Granvi I le County , reached Logtown . The season had been rainy, the
roads were heavy with clay and mire of the preceding winter and we
had met with many tribulations on the way . Our route had taken us
from Salem around the Pi lot Mountains and through Rockford . l65
Several students lett descriptions of the log building in which the l aw
schoo l was actually conducted and in which two students usua ll y roomed . AI I
indications are that this building remained unmoved and unchanged throughout
the ent ire period of the school ' s e xi stence . Hays ' description is perhaps
the most detailed :
In the front yard [of the original log house] was his law office
and lecture room , a single log building about twenty feet square,
plainly but comfortably furnished and usually during the school
terms occupied by two students .
The Judge would come into his office and seat himself near the chimney
corner [i . e . on the western side of the building], and the students
usually about thirty , were ranged around the room in a sort of semi ­circle.
Usually a wooden box which held yggut 25 pounds of smoking
tobacco occupied the middle of the floor .
Counci I S. Wooten, who roomed in the office, states merely that the "office
was at the bottom of the hi I I " and that Judge Pearson kept his books there . 167
In 194 1 Dr . Adelaide Fries was able to obtain a rough descripti0n of the
interior of the office from Hugh Reid Scott of Reidsv i I le, one of the few
Pearson students remaining alive at that time:
there were only one or two windows in the school room , with the
chimney at one end of the room and a door at the other . The
students sat in a semi - circle around one side of the room , from
the fire place to the door; [and] the Chief Justice sat at a table
on the other side of the fire- place. 168
From Mrs . Lucy Cundiff and Mr . Vann Poindexter, Dr . Fries received con -
firmation that the office had been located at the foot of the hi I I in front
of the Pearson residence . In addition, they informed her that the chimney
had been on the west end of the building, that there were bookshelves be -
tween the windows, and that the logs and chimney of the build in g were
39
whitewashed with I ims from the "I ime rock."l69
The sessions of instruction at Richmond Hi I I necessarily alternated with
the terms of the Supreme Court. The spring session usually opened about the
middle of March and lasted untl I late May or early June. The fa I I session
began in September and continued into early December. 170 Students frequent ly
arrived wei I before the commencement of lectures or I ingered on after The
sessions had officially ended . Some even remained during the winter months
between sessions in order to study on their own , keep possession of the
rooms they had engaged , or simply to avoid the difficulties and aggravations
of travel.i 71
Students at Richmond Hi I I were divided into two groups: those who were
studying for their county court I icenses; and those more advanced students
who were preparing for practice in the superior court s . it wi I I be recalled
that the Supreme Court required that a ful I year elapse between the issuance
of the two I icenses. There were three lectures each week as a general rule .
Two of these were for the county court students; but the superior court
students were also expected to attend , presumably to share their know-ledge
and experience. The third lecture was for the superior court
students only . 172
The number ,of students at Richmond Hi I I varied wide ly from year to
year. John W. Hays recalled that there were "usual iy about thirty"
attending the lectures when he was there in 1853-54.173 In a letter of
27 February 1860 yowng John Gray Bynum, Jr. informed · his stepfcatliler-;·
... that there is eleven or twelve students up here and some coming
next week - I bel !eve some are coming as soon as wednesday and
maybe that there is some coming sooner. Mr. Manly and Mr. Cole
wi I I be here wednesday and we are looking for some every day that
have been in Salem since Christmas . 174
Six years later, on 7 May 1866, John Steele Henderson commented on the
number of students in a letter to his mother: "Judge Pearson's law schoo l
40
4i' wi I I bring him a considerable income . He has now nineteen pupi Is - Next
session he wi II have many more.'t175 William Alexander Hoke I isted the
names of thirteen students who were enrol led at Richmond Hi I I in the spr i ng
and fa I I of 1871 - three in the superior court class and ten in the county
court class . 176 In the tal I of 1872 Richmond Pearson reported that there
were " eighteen young tel lows " currently studying law with his father . 177
By far the most lengthy and detail ed I ist of tel low students wa s compiled
by John Y. Phi II ips of Surry County , who studied law at Richmond Hi II in
1876- 77 . Phi I I ips recorded t he names of forty students at the school during
the spring and fal I terms of 1876 and the spring term of 1877 . However , he
apparently fai led to I ist the county court class for the tal I of 1876 ,
which would perhaps have increased the total number of students to between
fifty-five and sixty . 178 AI I in alI , Judge Pearson ' s statement to Robert
Paine Dick that " he had instructed more than a thousand law students" at
Mocksvi I Je and Richmond Hi I I seems a reasonable one , although the exact
number cannot possibly be determined. 179
The sources encountered by this researcher unanimously support the
customa ry description of Judge Pearson ' s teaching methods as being Socratic-that
is in consist i ng of a systematic exp l icat i on and examination of the law
and its principles th r ough the dialectic process of question and answer. Judge
Pearson ' s published lectures and the existing notebooks of students also reveal
that he placed great emphasis on the foundations of American jurisprudence
to be found in the common and statute law of England .l 80 The description of
Pearson ' s teaching methods most heavi Jy drawn upon in the past has been that
left by Counci I S. Wooten ; and his description is indeed a helpful one as fa r
as it goes :
In teaching Jaw , he adopted the method of Socrates , Plato and
41
Aristotle by asking the student questions . He did not give lessons,
but he told his students what books they must read and then about
twice a week the students would come to his office and he. would exa­mine
them upon what they had read, by asking them questions . • . . His
lectures were about two hours in length . He had a regular system in
his lectures for he would take up some subject and exhaust it, and
when he concluded the subject the student was master of the subject.
He taught his students how to th ink and reason . .. . He was the gr eat­est
teacher that ever I ived on the earth and I don't bel ieve that
there wi I I ever be such another . 181
John W. Hays ' descri~j o nof Judge Pearson's teaching methods is much less
wei I known than Wooten's; but it is even more detailed and informative ,
and is therefore quoted here at great length :
There were three lectures each week. Two of these were for the
County Court students, which al I of both clases were expected to
attend. The other was for the Superior Court studeQts only. Every
student was presumed to have a tolerable acquaintance with the
history of England ..• .
The Judge would bring his pipe and every student was at I iberty
to do the same, and sometimes the room would be fi I led with a cloud
of tobacco smoke. The newcomers had an easy time for about the
first month.
The Judge began with a definition of law, and the gradual deve lop­ment
of the system of common Jaw . Then taking the analysis of the
second book of Blackstone, as given in Chitty ' s edition , he wou ld
follow that book through to the end and would then take up the last
five chapters of the first book.. This pI an was so arranged as to
occupy one entire course of lectures and one whole term of tAe school
of about two and a half months . Every student was kept upon his
mett le. If he were selected for a special ' rushing ' it was regarded
as a compliment to his progress. If another student were pitted
against him, it was a compliment to both. If they both tal led, the
question went around the class , and this was the new students oppor­tunity
. If a new man answered it correctly it brought him at once
to the f ront. Sometimes the Judge would ply him with other questions
as a further test of what was in him . Thus there was a constant sti ­mulus
to be on the alert , for no one knew when his opportunity might
come . The bright and studious were not long in coming to the front ,
and indeed alI were soon measured , weighed and appraised of their
true worth • . ..
Case after case was put to i I Justrate the appl !cation of principles,
the student being required to make the appl icatlon and to solve the
legal problem involved . Many of these cases and principles were
taken from the antiquated black- letter law growing out of the feudal
system and apparently of I ittle value to the American lawyer of the
present time .. •. The industrious student . . . wou ld become wei I ground­ed
in the first principles of the common Jaw, and it was with these
• J. princip les that Judge Pearson wa-s desirous that his st(Jdents should
42
become thoroughly imbued . He did not approve of most courts nor
did he care for his students to devote their time and attention
to the practice of the courts . This , he thought~ they would
soon learn after entering upon actual practice . lo2
Although Judge Pearson did not lecture from notes and Is thought never
to have committed his lectures to paper, the existing notes taken by students
over a period of many years are remarkably simi tar . Indeed , the notes taken
by different students on the same topic are often nearly verbatim . Benjamin
F. Long, who pub I ished Judge Pearson ' s lectures in 1879 from his own notes
and the notes of others, explained how student notes were passed on to
successors from year to year:
As his lectures were not delivered from manuscript, and were
never put in writing by him, it is proper to say, by way of
satisfying inquiry , that they have been very complete l y preserved
by means of notes taken by his students . The field of instruction
travel led over by him in teaching each successive class was
essentially the same. This identity in the law course, from session
to session at his school, gave a dist inct individuality to each
lecture; and from an earl y period the students began to note down
the questions and answers of which these lectures consisted . The
manuscripts thus prepared by one class became the heritage of the
next , growing more complete from yea r to year 1 ~srough the additions
made by dl I igent and painstaking students ....
In addition to attending the lectures and participating in discussions ,
Pea r son ' s students were expected to read deeply an d repetitively the most
important English and American juridical writings. John W. Hays recorded
that
Every student ... was expected to read, as part of the prescribed
course , Blackstone ' s Commentaries .. . , Coke upon Littleton, Saunders
on Uses and Trusts; Fearneon Contingent Remainders ; and Tot ler on
Executors . In addition to these the Superior Court students were
expected to devote special attention to the third and fourth books
of Blackstone and also to read Stephens on Pleading , Chitty on
Plead ing ... , Adams Eq uity~ and Milford or Lui i e on Equity Plead i ng ,
and Starkie on Evidence. 4
Judge Pearson ' s favorite writer on the law appears to have been the
~ early seventeenth - century Eng I ish jurist, Sir Edward Coke . 185 On 2 March 1866
John Steele Henderson apprised his mother of the h ig h value placed on Coke
43
~ in the training of young minds at Richmond Hi I 1:
If I had a Coke at this moment, I would wade right through alI
this mud and would no doubt get into water where wading is im­possible
. But this aside, Coke is the- book of the law - I brought
Cruise with me but as Judge Pearson says ' if you want to drink
out of the branch , read Cruisei but if you want to drink out of
the spring , read Coke . It may be a I ittle more trouble to get
to the spring, but the water is so much better . ' 186
Students were apparently allowed free access to Judge Pearson's law
books, at least some of whic h were kept in the office . 187 Indeed , young
Lewin Barringer comp la i ned t hat "the Judge has not got a good I ibrary of
any other kind , except law books . "l88 The law I ibrary at Richmond Hi II
eventual ly became quite extensive. In January of 1858 Pearson had pur-chased
40 volumes of law books from the estate of General John Gray
Bynum in Wi lmington.189 Ten years later he and his daughter Laura cata­logued
some 274 texts then avai !able at Richmond Hi I I . 190 During the last
decade of his I ife , Pearson must have purchased a great number of books ,
for when his law I ibrary was donated to the Law School of the University of
North Carol ina in 1924, it consisted of about 700 volumes and included a
complete set of f i rst editions of the North Carol ina Supreme Co urt Reports
and valuable folio edit ions of Eng I ish classics. 191
It is surprising to find that Judge Pearson ' s basic fee appears t o have
remained $100 per year throughout his long career as an educator. It may be
recalled that this was the charge advertised in June of 1840 in connection
with the Mocksville school. 192 A letter from Joh~ Steele Henderson to his
mother on 4 May 1866 reveals that this amount had remained unchanged after
a quarter century. 193 And , finally, a receipt of 21 February 1878 demon -
strates that there had been no increase up to the time of Judge Pearson ' s
death . The receipt recorded the refund of one session ' s office fee or
tuition to one R. H. McKoy by Richmond Pearson, executor of his father ' s
44
estate:
Rec ' d Febry 21 of Richmond Pearson Exr of R. M. Pearson fifty-dol
Iars part of office fee returned by reason of my having attend­ed
Judge Pearson's Law school for one session: and having paid
$100.00 when I entered the school . 194
Even though his charges were eminently reasonable, Judge Pearson
seems to have been both patient and understanding with students who
found themselves in a condition of financial Ambarrassment . When , for
examp le , Wi I I iam M. Norma n of Surry County resolved to study law i n the
spring of 1859 , he found that the i mmed iate lack of money was no bar to
his entry at Richmond Hi I 1:
... I went to Judge Pearson to see if he would let me enter the
school and give me time on the office or tuition fee . .. I gave
him to understand that , if I entered his school , he would have
to give me some indulgence, as I was not prepared to pay him
the money down . He resp0nded to me in these words: ' Mr . Norman ,
you can come on any time you choose . I wi I I wait with you for the
money as long as you desire me to. But I wi I I say this,' he added ,
' You must be diligent ; you must improve your time and get alI the
advantages of the lectures you T~g· ' I assured him that I would
carefully improve every moment .
Some fifteen years after Judge Pearson ' s death , his quiet generosity and
patience were reca l led by another student , Attorney General Frank I . Osborne :
Assisted in ear l y I i fe by the generosity of a distinguished bro ther
[Joseph Pearson] , he would not forget the kindness, and he showed
his appreciation of it by assisting a l I others who struggled as
he had struggled . He wi I I ing ly helped anyone who was batt l ing
with adverse fortune to begin an honorable career. He never turned
a student from his door for lack of means . He Invited alI such
to come to him . He trusted to their honor and ability to P19 6
him
in the future; if that failed, he quietly endured the loss .
While attending Judge Pearson's law school at Richmond Hi I I , the
students roomed and boarded in various places on both sides of the Yadkin .
A complete I ist of these places of accomodation cannot now be reconstructed ;
·'
but several of the most important of them appear fleetingly in the sources .
It is probable that two students occupied the office or lecture room
i tse If a I most a I I of t he time that the schoo I wa s in session . Whe n .. ..
45
John W. Hays arr i ved in March of 1853 , he was "assigned" by Judge Pearson
to the office, which he "regarded as a special favor . " -rtJ There his roomate
"
chanced to be the later notor ious Judge , George Washington Logan of Ruther­fordton
. 197 Counci I S. Wooten also " roomed in his [Pearson ' s] office,"
apparently for the entire two years of his stay at Richmond Hi I I. 198 Dur-ing
the tal I t e r m of 1865 , John Steele Henderson , Nick Li I I ington, and
J ohn Ker r roome d i n the l aw off ice unt l I find in g more pr ivate qu a rte rs acr oss
the ri ver at " Dobson ' s Hi I 1." In January of 1866 He nde r son e x pla ined t o hi s
mother the reasons for the mo ve :
The advantage of my new quarters over the somewhat less new a t
Richmond Hi I I is s i mply this - Here There i s nothing to i nte rr~pt
one ' s s tudies - If anyone feels I ike visiting us they can c r oss
the Yadkin , the canoe being on this side - Nick , Ke r r and myself
are here alI by ourselves - At Judge Pearson ' s , howeve r, our r oom
was the most public [on] the Hi I I ; it is the lecture room ; students
coming to lectu r es would bring to it alI the mud [their] shoes could
carry; they would come in . .. before lectures and bo r e me out com­pletely
; ... [they] would invariably drop in going to, and retu rning
from meals and at other times .. .. [AI I these] things put together
convinced me that Dobson ' s was the prefer able place . 199
Dur i ng the fall ter m of 187 1 Lewin Barringer was qua r tered in the "office i n
t he Judge ' s ya r d" wi th J . F . Dortch of Go ldsbo-ro ; and he a l so f ound the
a rra ngeme nt in co nv e ni ent becau se o f the l ack of prl vacy . 200
John W. Hays ' recollect ions of Rich mond Hi I I confirm th e l on g- hel d be -
lief that there was once a log cab i n at the present site of the shelter wh i ch
was set as i de for students ' qua r ters :
A hundred ya r ds away [f r om the office] and nearly In the edge of the
woods was another log cabin intended for the accomodation of the
students . 20 I 11...... '
In March of 1853 Wi II ie H. Jenkins and Lewis ( " Nat" ) Taylor , Jr . were
" assigned " to quarte r s in tbis cabin . As has been believed, this ca bin
had t wo rooms , fo r an ov e r i ding consideration in thei r placement t here was
the fact that they " pr efe r r ed each a room to hlmself . "202 Old - t ime r es id e nts
46
of the Richmond Hi I I area sti I I recal I this two - room structure. 203
Unfortunate l y , sources are unclear as to whether students ever roomed
In the Pearson residence itse l f , e i ther i n the original l og house o r in the
present brick structure. The indications are that they did, at least in the
later years of the school's operation . The 1850 census for Surry County
I isted three " students at law " I iving with the Pearson family , presumably
i n t he house - 01 i n M. Lee , Charles R. Thomas , and Benjamin Sanders , a t I
in the i r early twent i es and at I native North Ca r ol inians . 204 The 1860
census for Yadkin County I isted no res idents at Richmond Hi I I except
for family members . 205 In 1870 the census taken for Yadkin County listed
one "law student" as a resident of the household - one John Fowler , aged
twenty- one , and North Carol ina born . 206 It should be kept in mind that
If this census informat ion was gather ed during the summer mo nths , the
law school would have been between sessions and few or no law student s
would appear in the I istings . It is reasonable to assume that students would
have been increasingly allowed to room in the house as the Pearson chi tdren
passed away , married, or other wise vacated their rooms . The Yadkin County
densus of 1870 I i sted on l y J udge Pearson , Mrs . Pearson , a nd the i r daughte r
Laura as resident family members . 207 A letter written by Richmond Pearson
soon after his graduation from Princeton sounds very much I ike students
were not only eating in the house, but I iving there as wet 1:
I am at length settled down and reconciled to my new I ife style . . ..
there are eighteen young fel lows up here no w: some of them kno w
I ife only by hea r say : but others are wei I educated and dec id e d j y
refined. The greatest troub l e with me I s hav i ng so many stra ngers
about the house : fhere are eight boarding wi t h~ and you must
know that it begats not a tittle inconvenience : sti I I they are
alI very good natu r ed and accomodating and bear domestic accidents
with remarkable cleverness . 208 • , ..
The above letter and several others leave no doubt whatsoever that
students took their meats in the Pearson home over a pe r iod of many years .
-e .
47
One of John Steele Henderson ' s complaints about I iving in the office in 1866
was that the other students would drop in on their way to and from meals .20~
In a letter to his father of 24 September 1871 , Lewin Barringer gave a brief
account of his situation which, incidently, contains one of the very few
references made to the house now standing at Richmond Hi I 1:
I am rooming with Dortch in a I ittle log office in the Judge ' s
front yard , and every thing is much more comfortable than I expected.
The Jud e has a ve r nice brick r es id ence where we take our mealst
which , by the way are very good, and the cooking is admi rable. 10
An earlier l etter from Barringer to his father even provided s peci fic
detal Is about his boarding arrangements: meals were customarily served
in the house at 7:00AM, 12:30 PM , and 7:00 PM at a monthly cost of $15 . 0o . 21 I
There are strong indications that the second Mrs. Pearson resented the
intrusion and inconvenience of having the students eat in her home . In a
letter of 19 March 1860 , only a few months after their marriage, she implored
her husband not to allow a dissipated young man named French to board with
them , saying that she did not 11 wish to be troubled with boarders of any kind. 11 212
A similar reluctance was encountered nearly six years later by John Steele
Henderson , Nick Li I I ington , and John Kerr before their move from the office to
Dobson ' s Hi I I. It shou l d be noted that Henderson ' s portrait of Mrs. Pearson
i s not a l together flattering:
You have doubtless been informed, ere this , of my safe arrival
at [Richmond] Hi I 1. Judge Pearson was absent and may not have yet
reached home . [I] found board somewhat difficult ... to procu re.
Mrs. Pearson however agreed to let us remain with her , untl I the
Judge should come home - as Kerr and myself were the sons of her
old friends she would do this much for us ; but she had no cook
(so- cal led - everything being cooked very wei I I thought> and
unless she could procure one her ladyship was fearful lest she
would have to quit taking boarders . Of course we were under a
thousand obi igations even being allowed as it were , to have a roof
[over] us for even a very few days . . .. Nick Li I I ington arrived in
a few days to s t udy law ; Mrs. Pearson he had a talk with and he said
Mrs . Pearson was grumbling mightily about being obi iged to accomodate
law stud e nts that come . He proposed .•. that we seek board elsewhere ,
48
[so] bidding farewel I to Brickvi I le (or [Logtown] or Richmond Hi I 1) ...
we cross[ed] the Yadkin, and encamp[ed] [In] the hi I Is of Surry . ...
When I came to bid her goodbye , [she] expected and desired that Kerr
and myself should have continued with her . Some people however
~ave a way of m~T~ing their real wishes , saying one thing and mean -
rng another ....
Although this researcher has found no specific mention of students rooming
elsewhere on Judge Pearson ' s property, there is a local tradition that student
cabins were located along the road leading to the Richmond Hi I I residence.
Several possible s ites have been located through information p r ovided by
Mr. Sam Adams - a man who once I i ved in the brick house as a boy and who
sti I I resides in the immediate v~cinity. Approximately 4/IOths of a mile
from the house on the western side of the road are the apparent remains of
a rock foundation . About 7/IOths of ami le from the house on the eastern
side of the road is a second possible cabin site as indicated by chimney
brick strewn about on the ground. Slightly further up the road , about
8/IOths of a mile from the house and on the western side of the road near
a large cedar tree , is a third possible cabin site , as indicated by the
apparent remains of a rock foundation and old dish fragments . Mr . Adams
once I ived in th i s cabin after moving out o f the brick house. Moreover, he
recal Is that there was another cabin directly across the road in his youth ;
but no surface evidence of this fourth cabi n now survlves . 214 Hopefully ,
archeological investigation wi I I be able to determine whether the structures
once located on these sites were student cabins or slaves ' quarters dating
from Judge Pearson ' s time , or whether they were farm bui I dings or temporary
dwel I ings for sawmi I I hands constructed at a later date . It is unfortunate
that the land on both sides of the road has been considerably disturbed by
timbering operations ; moreover, the land along the eastern side of the road
has recent l y been ravaged by a forest fire-alI seriously reducing the I ikl i-hood
of l ocating additional sites.
•
49
In addition to the student quarters provided at Richmond Hi I I itself ,
there were accomodations to be found In the homes or on the property of
several close neighbors . As early as January of 1847 John Marshal I Clement
was boarding with Joseph Wi I Iiams, Jr ., Pearson ' s neighbor to the northwest ,
at a cost of $9 . 00 a month . 215 Two years later, John M. de Berniere of
Chapel Hill reported that "Old General Hill " was staying at "Joe William ' s,"
and that he had "never seen a fellow study so hard . "216 Final ly, John W.
Hays recalled that in 1853- 54 Joseph Wil l lams, Jr. "had off ices on his
premises to accomodate about eight student boarders .... rr217
At least as early as 1856 , Pearson ' s neighbor to the west, Peyton Corum ,
was providing quarters for several law students in a smal I log bui !ding at
his home . On 5 September of that year, future Judge David Schenck made
the following informative entry in his journal:
I arrived in Rockford - the most uninviting place I ever saw­my
spirits were dejected and my heart sank within me. I came to
attend the ' Law School ' of Judge Pearson . . .. Hiring a horse [I]
cal led on Mr . Kerr , a student , who wa s kind enough to visit with
me the several boarding houses in the neighborhood, very appropriately
cal led Log - town and I obtained an attic room at Mr. Corum ' s , a kind
ignorant s i mple countr yman - I found some six or eight boarders -
my ' Chum ' Is Mr . A. K. Simonton of Statesvi I le. I find the students
generally young gentlemen of courteous and respectful man ners and
honorable in alI their associations . Notwithstanding the uninviting
looks of the place, the society makes it not only agreeable but
pleasant . 217
-,.J
Many students at Richmond Hi I I found accomodations across the river in
"-
Rockford where there were several boarding houses.218 John M. deBerniere
was staying in Rockford in the tal I of 1849 , but he did not indicate the
name of his landlord . 219 During the tal I of 1859 , Wi I liam M. Norman found
lodgings with Dr . M. Y. Folger in Rockford. Later, Folger stopped taking
boarders , and Norman and his friend , J . H. Maxwel I, were accepted into the
home of Mark York at a cost of $8 . 00 a month . 220
50
Other students boarded slightly down stream from Rockford In a row of
log cabins at the Dobson place , some of which are sti I I standing . Some of
the wealthier students staying at the Dobson ' s are even said to have brought
servants with them . John Steele Henderson was staying at "Dobson Hi I I" In
the winter and spring of 1866, together with his friends Nick Li II ington
and John Kerr. 222 Moreover, he was palpably gratified by the service he
was receiving from the free blacks there : "T he freedmen are extremely
polite. I have been waited on as wei I since I have been at Dobson Hi I I as
could have been five years ago."223
There are several indicatioffithat the students staying at the Dobson
place crossed the Yadkin to Richmond Hi I I by way of canoe , it being specifi­cally
mentioned that there was a "canoe landing" there . 224 By his own account ,
William M. Norman walked "about three miles and a half to the lecture room"
from his quarters in Rocktord . 225 Doubtless, many other students did so as
wei I . There is said , however , to have been a coach which regularly transported
students between Rockford and Judge Pearson ' s law school. Before the War ,
this coach is supposed to Mave been driven by Wi I I iam Armstrong , a slave
own ed by the Rockford hotel proprietor, Co l. Frank Armstrong . Wi I I iam Armstrong
Is reported to have attended some of the law lectures , and to have dispensed
free Aiegal advice to his neighbors In the Barney Hi I I community after gaining
his freedom . 226
Existing letters from students at Richmond Hi I I are almost unanimous in
their praise of the healthful climate and natural beauty of the area . The
student I ife reflected is one of informality , di I igent study , friendly
relationships, quiet amusements , and invigorating discussion . Almost to a
man the students seem to have regarded their studies as challenging and
Judge Pearson as a ski I led and st i mu l ating i nstructor . On 5 Septembe r and
5 1
3 October 1856, for example, future Judge David Schenck committed his early
impressions of Richmond Hi I I to his journal:
I commenced on Monday a general review of my County Court course
aided by reference to copies of the Judge ' s lectures by Mr . Cowles .
I finished this cursory review on Tuesday night and attended the first
lecture on Wednesday . It was a novel and interesting spectacle to
see twenty three young gentlemen sitting thus at the feet of this
great legal genius to learn wisdom and hear the teachings of this
complicated science. We were assembled in front of the Judge's office,
on the greensward under the shade of some fin~ oaks . This being a
lecture on County Court law I was asked no questions , which was wei I~
for notwithstanding many resolutions of firmness , I felt some tremor
in the knees as the lecture proceeded .
I have every reason to be pleased with the associations of this
place, . .. it is real ly very pleasant to me to enjoy the fine society .
Discussing in friendly tones every topic , thereby gaining and Impart­ing
information , and exercising the mind and keep it invigorating and
fresh . Our amusements at leisure hours are agreeable and always friend­ly
and pleasant; i.e. a game of whist or quoits - We have the Judge ' s
daughters to visit who are always pleased to see the young gentlemen
and entertain them in the most interesting and sociable manner . I cannot
say that 1 have been applying myself as closely as I expected, but 1
have learned a vast dea l . 227
Student letters reflect much less enthusiasm for the extreme remoteness of
Richmond Hi I l, the occasionally bitter weather , and the difficulties of making
any sort of financial or business transaction in the area . Especially aggra-vating
and troublesome was the inadequate mal I se r vice which picked up and
delivered mai 1 once a week and often failed to convey a given piece of corres-pondence
to Its intended recipient. In letters of 24 September and 10 October
1871 , Lewin Barringer made the following typical comments:
am very wei I pleased up here , in fact I am perfectly satisfied ,
with the one exception of the mal I . .. . The ma i I on ly comes once a
week and that is on Wednesday .---lt- leaves here on Wednesday morning
and comes on the same afternoon, hence it is a week before you can
answer a letter.
I wish you would send me about $1 . 00 worth of stamps In your next
letter as there are none to be had at this 'office.' it is trans­ferred
about the neighborhood by merely handing the key of the mal 1
bag from one person to another . . .. I believe the Post Office Depart­ment
in Washington takes no cognizance of this office . 228
52
If Judge Pearson ' s purpose had indeed been to locate his law ·school
in "a quiet secluded spot . .. so that his students could be quiet and have
nothing to withdraw their minds from their books-, 11 he was resoundingly
successful in his cho ice of Richmond Hi I 1.229 ·Running through existing
student letters is a recurrent longing for contacts with the outside world
and I ively diversions from their studies . As has been true of young men
since time immemorial, the students at Richmond Hi I I occasionally turned to
ardent spir its in their sea rch fer amusement and rei ief . For many years
after the closing of the school , residents of Rockford are said to have
related stories of drunken student escapades in the community.230 As early
as II March 1851, WI ll ·iam H. Battle made reference to student drinking in
a letter from Rockford to his wife in Chapel Hi I 1:
Since I have been here Johnny de Bernier [John M. de Berniere] has
been to see me two or three times. He appeared very glad to meet
with me and made many inquiries about his relatlons and friends at
Chapel Hi I I. He looks very wei I and I hope has escaped the conta­gion
of disipation which, I am told , is very prevalent here and
hereabouts. There are qu ite a number of law students here, several
of whom are preparing to practise at more b.ars than one. 231
Some twenty years later, Lewin Barringer had heard simi Jar stories of dissi -
,
pation at Richmond Hi I I; but, upon his arrival, he was able to reassure his
father that these stories were exaggerated or untrue:
Since I have been up here I find that the idea that has gone
out about this place being one of much intemperance is entirely
erroneous, that is as far as my observation extends. AI I the
students up here so far are very di I igent . The Judge said he
was not going to allow any spiritous I iquors here at al I if he
could he lp it.232
More innocent amusements were provided by the river and by the teeming
woodlands which surrounded Richrnond Hi I I . In a Jetter of 24 September
1871, Lewin Barringer sent word to his brother that the hunting for
smal I game was exce l lent In the area :
Tel I Moreau that there is plenty of game up in th is country.
53
We stand in the door [of the office] & see partriges & rabbits
233 alI about , I ki I led some the other afternoon , when out walking.
Frederick N. Strudwick of Hi I lsborough was the object of another student's
admiration because
he could spend halt his time on the river or in the woods , and
then in the other half learn as much law as some others who de­voted
their whole time to reading.234
Judge Pearson himself was said to be fond of fishing tor suckers using dough-bat
Is tor bait, and it i s very I i kely that he and his students occasiona l ly
discussed the law while seated on the banks of the Yadkin.235
On at l east one occasion , and probably on many more, a group of
students made a week - end excursion to Pi lot Mountain , which in Judge
Pearson's time could probably be seen from Richmond Hi I I alI through the
year. In a letter of 25 October 1871 Lewin Barringer gave the following
account of such an excursion to his father:
The party of students 10 in number went over to the Pi lot
mountain last Saturday and Sunday. I enjoyed the trip very much ,
though my feet are badly blistered from wearing my heavy boots .
From the top we had a magnificent view , seeing many miles at I
around , as the mountain is completely isolated from any other .
The ascent to the p i nnacle (since the ladder is gone) is rather
dangerous , but a lI of us went u~ safely , and were fully compen ­sated
when we got to the top.236
From time to time student letters make mention of parties and other
festive activities which drew them away from their studies at Richmond
Hi I I. In late November of 1856 nine students attended a three-day party
at "Cooleemee Hal 1, " the plantation home of Major Peter Hairston in Davie
County . 237 Hairston had originally purchased this home and 2,500 acres of
land in 1817 from Judge Pearson's half-brother , Jessie , at a reported cost
of $20,000 . 238 In the spring of 1866 a medieval tournament was held in
Boonvi I le, perhaps to demonstrate that gal lantry and ideal ism survived in
the South despite the loss of the Civi I War . Unfortunately , the affair
54
seems to have been a rather pathetic travesty , even though several young
men were " knighted " and one "Miss Lynch" was crown ed as the "queen of love
and beauty . " John Stee I e Henderson, who had ex ere i sed good judgment-;· in
remaining at Richmond Hi I I , sent a rather dreary report of the affair
to his mother :
It was not my good to be there , but from al I that I can
lea r n (and several went f rom here) it was a most perfect
failure. Nothing less could have been expected .... From
the descr i pt ion it must ha ve been a most ludicrous affair ­Let
it rest in peace ! 239
There are st rong indications that the students genera lly e njoyed
informal and friend ly relations with the members of the Pea r son fam il y ,
and that the I ife of the law school and that of the family were closely
interwoven . Contacts between the students and the Judge ' s family were ,
of course , most frequent and regular at meal time; and the discussions
at table were apparently I ively ones , especial l y when they centered around
political topics . In a letter of 10 October 1871 Lewin Barringer rendered
an account of these discussions which portrayed Mrs . Pearson in a condes -
cending and unflattering manner :
I I ike the Judge ve ry much , and I believe he I ikes me . The only
things we don ' t ag ree on are t he Ku Klux , and the Federal Court
ha ving cognizance of state matters . ... Mrs. Pearson always breaks
in with a volley of words , peculiarly adapted to the femin i ne gender ,
to express her regard for [Hugh L. ] Bond and republ l eans in general,
and curse Democrats ejernal ly .
How funny the words of women sound , and how ludicrous the i r ac­tions
, when meddling with things they have nothing to do with . I
think I get along 'swimmingly' with both of them , and hope to
continue in thei r good graces - Though Mrs . Pearson is such a
f latterer sometimes I almost feel like tel I ing her of her in ­sincerity
. 240
Predictably , the students were especially attracted to Judge Pearson ' s
daughters and to the friends who visited them at Richmond Hi I I. It may be
recalled that in 1856 David Schenck mentioned among the assets of student
I ife the fact t hat "w e ha ve the Judge ' s daughters to visit who are a lways
55
pleased to see the young gentlemen and entertain them in the most interest-ing
and sociable manner . "241 Ten years later , future United States Congress-man
, John Stee le Henderson , was both singing the praises of Sa r ah <Sal I i e)
Pea r son and looking forwa rd to the arrival of Laura Pearson with a group
of her friends :
Miss Sal I ie Pearson tel Is me Miss Laura wi I I be home in June with
qu ite a pa rty of young ladies - They wi I I have the whole house to
t hemselves . Mrs. Pearson wi I I go away .... Miss Sal I ie Pearson
I f i nd a very clever lady - qu ite Intel I !gent, and entertain ing.
She i s really ve ry s mart, unu s ua lly so - a nd so qu i et [and] unob­t
rusive in her way that few of a s l ight acquaintance would be
able to pe rcei ve he r mi nd . 242
The most powerful commentary on the attraction between Judge Pearson's
daughters and the law students is the fact that at least two of his daughters
later married law students: Ellen Brent Pearson married Daniel G. Fowle
at Richmond Hi I I on 15 Apri I 1856 ; and Sarah (Sal I ie) Pearson ma rri ed
James M. Hobson on 20 July 1867 . 243 It is unclear whether the John H.
Bullock of Granvi I le County who ma r ried Eliza Pearson on 20 May 1860
had previously been a law student . It is certain, however , that the
wedding at Richmond Hi I I wa s a gala a f fa i r In wh ic h the law s tudents
took an active inte r est. On 14 July 1860 Mary L. Pea r son sent a deta il e d
description to her r e lative , Martha McDowe l I:
Now [with regard to] E liza ' s wedding I must te l I you ; the whol e
affair passed off to my entire satisfaction - the table I set in
the form of the letter T. It was undoubtedly the very handsomest
one I have ever seen & said to be so by alI present .. .. We ha d
a good deal of silver leaf - & E[l iza] sent North for a box of
candy ornaments which were very handsome ... The bride looked
beautiful ; covered in 1 si lk Crinoline and Lace ' - we had only
35 persons besides our own family - the law students were in
extacies over the table; they sent In a petition to me to see
the table before the marriage - I did so; and you don ' t kno w
how I enjoyed their adulations, feeling assured it was alI
true . 244
The few descriptions of Judge Pearson left by his students are use-fu
l supplements to e xi st ing portraits and engravings . Moreover, they
•
56
reveal informat ion of a personal and anecdotal nature which formal por-traits
cannot possibly divu lge . Nearly a half century after his student
days at Richmond Hi I I , John W. Hays recollected his first impressions of
the man who was to be his mentor in the law for the next two years :
We were met by the Judge with some of his smaller children , at
the gate. It was the first time I had ever seen Judge Pearson.
He was then about 48 years of age . .. . He was plainly, I might
say , almost shabbily, clad in an old faded suit with a high­crowned
hat that had done service through many winters, and
shoes that seemed to have

Click tabs to swap between content that is broken into logical sections.

RIQM)ND M. PEARSON
AND THE RICHM:>ND HILL lAW SCHOOL
by
Wilson Angley
PART I .
~H
~N~
c&RfMENT a
OJlJURAL
ffi:()JR and
unless she could procure one her ladyship was fearful lest she
would have to quit taking boarders . Of course we were under a
thousand obi igations even being allowed as it were , to have a roof
[over] us for even a very few days . . .. Nick Li I I ington arrived in
a few days to s t udy law ; Mrs. Pearson he had a talk with and he said
Mrs . Pearson was grumbling mightily about being obi iged to accomodate
law stud e nts that come . He proposed .•. that we seek board elsewhere ,
48
[so] bidding farewel I to Brickvi I le (or [Logtown] or Richmond Hi I 1) ...
we cross[ed] the Yadkin, and encamp[ed] [In] the hi I Is of Surry . ...
When I came to bid her goodbye , [she] expected and desired that Kerr
and myself should have continued with her . Some people however
~ave a way of m~T~ing their real wishes , saying one thing and mean -
rng another ....
Although this researcher has found no specific mention of students rooming
elsewhere on Judge Pearson ' s property, there is a local tradition that student
cabins were located along the road leading to the Richmond Hi I I residence.
Several possible s ites have been located through information p r ovided by
Mr. Sam Adams - a man who once I i ved in the brick house as a boy and who
sti I I resides in the immediate v~cinity. Approximately 4/IOths of a mile
from the house on the western side of the road are the apparent remains of
a rock foundation . About 7/IOths of ami le from the house on the eastern
side of the road is a second possible cabin site as indicated by chimney
brick strewn about on the ground. Slightly further up the road , about
8/IOths of a mile from the house and on the western side of the road near
a large cedar tree , is a third possible cabin site , as indicated by the
apparent remains of a rock foundation and old dish fragments . Mr . Adams
once I ived in th i s cabin after moving out o f the brick house. Moreover, he
recal Is that there was another cabin directly across the road in his youth ;
but no surface evidence of this fourth cabi n now survlves . 214 Hopefully ,
archeological investigation wi I I be able to determine whether the structures
once located on these sites were student cabins or slaves ' quarters dating
from Judge Pearson ' s time , or whether they were farm bui I dings or temporary
dwel I ings for sawmi I I hands constructed at a later date . It is unfortunate
that the land on both sides of the road has been considerably disturbed by
timbering operations ; moreover, the land along the eastern side of the road
has recent l y been ravaged by a forest fire-alI seriously reducing the I ikl i-hood
of l ocating additional sites.
•
49
In addition to the student quarters provided at Richmond Hi I I itself ,
there were accomodations to be found In the homes or on the property of
several close neighbors . As early as January of 1847 John Marshal I Clement
was boarding with Joseph Wi I Iiams, Jr ., Pearson ' s neighbor to the northwest ,
at a cost of $9 . 00 a month . 215 Two years later, John M. de Berniere of
Chapel Hill reported that "Old General Hill " was staying at "Joe William ' s,"
and that he had "never seen a fellow study so hard . "216 Final ly, John W.
Hays recalled that in 1853- 54 Joseph Wil l lams, Jr. "had off ices on his
premises to accomodate about eight student boarders .... rr217
At least as early as 1856 , Pearson ' s neighbor to the west, Peyton Corum ,
was providing quarters for several law students in a smal I log bui !ding at
his home . On 5 September of that year, future Judge David Schenck made
the following informative entry in his journal:
I arrived in Rockford - the most uninviting place I ever saw­my
spirits were dejected and my heart sank within me. I came to
attend the ' Law School ' of Judge Pearson . . .. Hiring a horse [I]
cal led on Mr . Kerr , a student , who wa s kind enough to visit with
me the several boarding houses in the neighborhood, very appropriately
cal led Log - town and I obtained an attic room at Mr. Corum ' s , a kind
ignorant s i mple countr yman - I found some six or eight boarders -
my ' Chum ' Is Mr . A. K. Simonton of Statesvi I le. I find the students
generally young gentlemen of courteous and respectful man ners and
honorable in alI their associations . Notwithstanding the uninviting
looks of the place, the society makes it not only agreeable but
pleasant . 217
-,.J
Many students at Richmond Hi I I found accomodations across the river in
"-
Rockford where there were several boarding houses.218 John M. deBerniere
was staying in Rockford in the tal I of 1849 , but he did not indicate the
name of his landlord . 219 During the tal I of 1859 , Wi I liam M. Norman found
lodgings with Dr . M. Y. Folger in Rockford. Later, Folger stopped taking
boarders , and Norman and his friend , J . H. Maxwel I, were accepted into the
home of Mark York at a cost of $8 . 00 a month . 220
50
Other students boarded slightly down stream from Rockford In a row of
log cabins at the Dobson place , some of which are sti I I standing . Some of
the wealthier students staying at the Dobson ' s are even said to have brought
servants with them . John Steele Henderson was staying at "Dobson Hi I I" In
the winter and spring of 1866, together with his friends Nick Li II ington
and John Kerr. 222 Moreover, he was palpably gratified by the service he
was receiving from the free blacks there : "T he freedmen are extremely
polite. I have been waited on as wei I since I have been at Dobson Hi I I as
could have been five years ago."223
There are several indicatioffithat the students staying at the Dobson
place crossed the Yadkin to Richmond Hi I I by way of canoe , it being specifi­cally
mentioned that there was a "canoe landing" there . 224 By his own account ,
William M. Norman walked "about three miles and a half to the lecture room"
from his quarters in Rocktord . 225 Doubtless, many other students did so as
wei I . There is said , however , to have been a coach which regularly transported
students between Rockford and Judge Pearson ' s law school. Before the War ,
this coach is supposed to Mave been driven by Wi I I iam Armstrong , a slave
own ed by the Rockford hotel proprietor, Co l. Frank Armstrong . Wi I I iam Armstrong
Is reported to have attended some of the law lectures , and to have dispensed
free Aiegal advice to his neighbors In the Barney Hi I I community after gaining
his freedom . 226
Existing letters from students at Richmond Hi I I are almost unanimous in
their praise of the healthful climate and natural beauty of the area . The
student I ife reflected is one of informality , di I igent study , friendly
relationships, quiet amusements , and invigorating discussion . Almost to a
man the students seem to have regarded their studies as challenging and
Judge Pearson as a ski I led and st i mu l ating i nstructor . On 5 Septembe r and
5 1
3 October 1856, for example, future Judge David Schenck committed his early
impressions of Richmond Hi I I to his journal:
I commenced on Monday a general review of my County Court course
aided by reference to copies of the Judge ' s lectures by Mr . Cowles .
I finished this cursory review on Tuesday night and attended the first
lecture on Wednesday . It was a novel and interesting spectacle to
see twenty three young gentlemen sitting thus at the feet of this
great legal genius to learn wisdom and hear the teachings of this
complicated science. We were assembled in front of the Judge's office,
on the greensward under the shade of some fin~ oaks . This being a
lecture on County Court law I was asked no questions , which was wei I~
for notwithstanding many resolutions of firmness , I felt some tremor
in the knees as the lecture proceeded .
I have every reason to be pleased with the associations of this
place, . .. it is real ly very pleasant to me to enjoy the fine society .
Discussing in friendly tones every topic , thereby gaining and Impart­ing
information , and exercising the mind and keep it invigorating and
fresh . Our amusements at leisure hours are agreeable and always friend­ly
and pleasant; i.e. a game of whist or quoits - We have the Judge ' s
daughters to visit who are always pleased to see the young gentlemen
and entertain them in the most interesting and sociable manner . I cannot
say that 1 have been applying myself as closely as I expected, but 1
have learned a vast dea l . 227
Student letters reflect much less enthusiasm for the extreme remoteness of
Richmond Hi I l, the occasionally bitter weather , and the difficulties of making
any sort of financial or business transaction in the area . Especially aggra-vating
and troublesome was the inadequate mal I se r vice which picked up and
delivered mai 1 once a week and often failed to convey a given piece of corres-pondence
to Its intended recipient. In letters of 24 September and 10 October
1871 , Lewin Barringer made the following typical comments:
am very wei I pleased up here , in fact I am perfectly satisfied ,
with the one exception of the mal I . .. . The ma i I on ly comes once a
week and that is on Wednesday .---lt- leaves here on Wednesday morning
and comes on the same afternoon, hence it is a week before you can
answer a letter.
I wish you would send me about $1 . 00 worth of stamps In your next
letter as there are none to be had at this 'office.' it is trans­ferred
about the neighborhood by merely handing the key of the mal 1
bag from one person to another . . .. I believe the Post Office Depart­ment
in Washington takes no cognizance of this office . 228
52
If Judge Pearson ' s purpose had indeed been to locate his law ·school
in "a quiet secluded spot . .. so that his students could be quiet and have
nothing to withdraw their minds from their books-, 11 he was resoundingly
successful in his cho ice of Richmond Hi I 1.229 ·Running through existing
student letters is a recurrent longing for contacts with the outside world
and I ively diversions from their studies . As has been true of young men
since time immemorial, the students at Richmond Hi I I occasionally turned to
ardent spir its in their sea rch fer amusement and rei ief . For many years
after the closing of the school , residents of Rockford are said to have
related stories of drunken student escapades in the community.230 As early
as II March 1851, WI ll ·iam H. Battle made reference to student drinking in
a letter from Rockford to his wife in Chapel Hi I 1:
Since I have been here Johnny de Bernier [John M. de Berniere] has
been to see me two or three times. He appeared very glad to meet
with me and made many inquiries about his relatlons and friends at
Chapel Hi I I. He looks very wei I and I hope has escaped the conta­gion
of disipation which, I am told , is very prevalent here and
hereabouts. There are qu ite a number of law students here, several
of whom are preparing to practise at more b.ars than one. 231
Some twenty years later, Lewin Barringer had heard simi Jar stories of dissi -
,
pation at Richmond Hi I I; but, upon his arrival, he was able to reassure his
father that these stories were exaggerated or untrue:
Since I have been up here I find that the idea that has gone
out about this place being one of much intemperance is entirely
erroneous, that is as far as my observation extends. AI I the
students up here so far are very di I igent . The Judge said he
was not going to allow any spiritous I iquors here at al I if he
could he lp it.232
More innocent amusements were provided by the river and by the teeming
woodlands which surrounded Richrnond Hi I I . In a Jetter of 24 September
1871, Lewin Barringer sent word to his brother that the hunting for
smal I game was exce l lent In the area :
Tel I Moreau that there is plenty of game up in th is country.
53
We stand in the door [of the office] & see partriges & rabbits
233 alI about , I ki I led some the other afternoon , when out walking.
Frederick N. Strudwick of Hi I lsborough was the object of another student's
admiration because
he could spend halt his time on the river or in the woods , and
then in the other half learn as much law as some others who de­voted
their whole time to reading.234
Judge Pearson himself was said to be fond of fishing tor suckers using dough-bat
Is tor bait, and it i s very I i kely that he and his students occasiona l ly
discussed the law while seated on the banks of the Yadkin.235
On at l east one occasion , and probably on many more, a group of
students made a week - end excursion to Pi lot Mountain , which in Judge
Pearson's time could probably be seen from Richmond Hi I I alI through the
year. In a letter of 25 October 1871 Lewin Barringer gave the following
account of such an excursion to his father:
The party of students 10 in number went over to the Pi lot
mountain last Saturday and Sunday. I enjoyed the trip very much ,
though my feet are badly blistered from wearing my heavy boots .
From the top we had a magnificent view , seeing many miles at I
around , as the mountain is completely isolated from any other .
The ascent to the p i nnacle (since the ladder is gone) is rather
dangerous , but a lI of us went u~ safely , and were fully compen ­sated
when we got to the top.236
From time to time student letters make mention of parties and other
festive activities which drew them away from their studies at Richmond
Hi I I. In late November of 1856 nine students attended a three-day party
at "Cooleemee Hal 1, " the plantation home of Major Peter Hairston in Davie
County . 237 Hairston had originally purchased this home and 2,500 acres of
land in 1817 from Judge Pearson's half-brother , Jessie , at a reported cost
of $20,000 . 238 In the spring of 1866 a medieval tournament was held in
Boonvi I le, perhaps to demonstrate that gal lantry and ideal ism survived in
the South despite the loss of the Civi I War . Unfortunately , the affair
54
seems to have been a rather pathetic travesty , even though several young
men were " knighted " and one "Miss Lynch" was crown ed as the "queen of love
and beauty . " John Stee I e Henderson, who had ex ere i sed good judgment-;· in
remaining at Richmond Hi I I , sent a rather dreary report of the affair
to his mother :
It was not my good to be there , but from al I that I can
lea r n (and several went f rom here) it was a most perfect
failure. Nothing less could have been expected .... From
the descr i pt ion it must ha ve been a most ludicrous affair ­Let
it rest in peace ! 239
There are st rong indications that the students genera lly e njoyed
informal and friend ly relations with the members of the Pea r son fam il y ,
and that the I ife of the law school and that of the family were closely
interwoven . Contacts between the students and the Judge ' s family were ,
of course , most frequent and regular at meal time; and the discussions
at table were apparently I ively ones , especial l y when they centered around
political topics . In a letter of 10 October 1871 Lewin Barringer rendered
an account of these discussions which portrayed Mrs . Pearson in a condes -
cending and unflattering manner :
I I ike the Judge ve ry much , and I believe he I ikes me . The only
things we don ' t ag ree on are t he Ku Klux , and the Federal Court
ha ving cognizance of state matters . ... Mrs. Pearson always breaks
in with a volley of words , peculiarly adapted to the femin i ne gender ,
to express her regard for [Hugh L. ] Bond and republ l eans in general,
and curse Democrats ejernal ly .
How funny the words of women sound , and how ludicrous the i r ac­tions
, when meddling with things they have nothing to do with . I
think I get along 'swimmingly' with both of them , and hope to
continue in thei r good graces - Though Mrs . Pearson is such a
f latterer sometimes I almost feel like tel I ing her of her in ­sincerity
. 240
Predictably , the students were especially attracted to Judge Pearson ' s
daughters and to the friends who visited them at Richmond Hi I I. It may be
recalled that in 1856 David Schenck mentioned among the assets of student
I ife the fact t hat "w e ha ve the Judge ' s daughters to visit who are a lways
55
pleased to see the young gentlemen and entertain them in the most interest-ing
and sociable manner . "241 Ten years later , future United States Congress-man
, John Stee le Henderson , was both singing the praises of Sa r ah